Sony Gold Award
12 May 2009
Our radio programme featuring a budgerigar and a prisoner has won gold at the Sony Radio Awards. ‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ is an inventive exploration of the Advent Season made by Mary Colwell for the Clifton Diocese – the Catholic Church covering Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.
The award for best internet programme was presented by Chris Evans at a ceremony in London last night (12 May).
Mary Colwell produced ‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’. She said: “Last night was just wonderful. I couldn’t believe we won. It was a thrilling night and I’m delighted.”
The judges said ‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ was: “A beautifully and subtly crafted programme which used the simplest materials to tell a compelling story and deliver profound emotional impact. It was perfectly adapted to the medium, breaking genre boundaries to deliver its message to the target audience with perfect pitch.”
‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ is part of Clifton Diocese’s Let Us Pod series of innovative online audio, devised and produced by Mary Colwell, that has won several national awards since it was launched in 2006.
‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ tells the story of Les who spent six years in prison for a serious crime. During that time, his life was turned round by looking after a budgerigar.
Waiting for his release he had time to think about life and responsibility. The programme interweaves Les’s story with the reflections of a local Catholic priest, Father Robert King, who talks about Advent and the transformation of human life through the birth of Jesus. For Christians, Advent is a time of waiting - waiting for the birth of Christ who Christians believe transforms their lives.
In the podcast Les says: “Christmas is a new start for everyone - for the future.”
Mary Colwell added: “It’s an honest and moving story combined with a creative Christmas message. It weaves together a story that’s applicable to everybody whether you are a person of faith or not and therefore appeals to a wide audience in an accessible way.
“Looking at the world and this well-known story anew - in an entirely different and compelling way - ‘The Prisoner and the Budgerigar’ brings together the Christian audience with those alive to the Christmas season.”
Father Robert King said: “Redemption stories inspire hope: making the seemingly impossible possible. Les’s story is a remarkable one and I’m delighted that it has been nominated for a Sony award. When I became a priest, I never thought that one day something of which I’ve been part would be up for an award with the likes of Chris Evans and John Humphrys!”
The beautiful carol - ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ - was specially recorded for the podcast by Irish folk guitarist Gareth Davies-Jones.
‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ can be heard at cliftondiocese.com - the popular website for the Catholic Church covering the West of England which produces audio news and features as well as more reflective podcasts such this Sony gold winner.
Our radio programme featuring a budgerigar and a prisoner has won gold at the Sony Radio Awards. ‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ is an inventive exploration of the Advent Season made by Mary Colwell for the Clifton Diocese – the Catholic Church covering Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.
The award for best internet programme was presented by Chris Evans at a ceremony in London last night (12 May).
Mary Colwell produced ‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’. She said: “Last night was just wonderful. I couldn’t believe we won. It was a thrilling night and I’m delighted.”
The judges said ‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ was: “A beautifully and subtly crafted programme which used the simplest materials to tell a compelling story and deliver profound emotional impact. It was perfectly adapted to the medium, breaking genre boundaries to deliver its message to the target audience with perfect pitch.”
‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ is part of Clifton Diocese’s Let Us Pod series of innovative online audio, devised and produced by Mary Colwell, that has won several national awards since it was launched in 2006.
‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ tells the story of Les who spent six years in prison for a serious crime. During that time, his life was turned round by looking after a budgerigar.
Waiting for his release he had time to think about life and responsibility. The programme interweaves Les’s story with the reflections of a local Catholic priest, Father Robert King, who talks about Advent and the transformation of human life through the birth of Jesus. For Christians, Advent is a time of waiting - waiting for the birth of Christ who Christians believe transforms their lives.
In the podcast Les says: “Christmas is a new start for everyone - for the future.”
Mary Colwell added: “It’s an honest and moving story combined with a creative Christmas message. It weaves together a story that’s applicable to everybody whether you are a person of faith or not and therefore appeals to a wide audience in an accessible way.
“Looking at the world and this well-known story anew - in an entirely different and compelling way - ‘The Prisoner and the Budgerigar’ brings together the Christian audience with those alive to the Christmas season.”
Father Robert King said: “Redemption stories inspire hope: making the seemingly impossible possible. Les’s story is a remarkable one and I’m delighted that it has been nominated for a Sony award. When I became a priest, I never thought that one day something of which I’ve been part would be up for an award with the likes of Chris Evans and John Humphrys!”
The beautiful carol - ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ - was specially recorded for the podcast by Irish folk guitarist Gareth Davies-Jones.
‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’ can be heard at cliftondiocese.com - the popular website for the Catholic Church covering the West of England which produces audio news and features as well as more reflective podcasts such this Sony gold winner.
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