A trainee reporter went back to school when he visited his former village primary in Devon as part of his newsgathering training.
Julian Barnes headed back to Hennock Community Primary School near Newton Abbot to cover a charity fundraising event in his role reporting on rural communities for the Mid Devon Advertiser.
Julian had a front row view as youngsters took on a snowy 3km cross-country run across the village in aid of Rowcroft Hospice.
He said: “It was a great experience returning back to Hennock. Unfortunately every teacher from time had left but it felt that in many ways, I’d come full circle.
“Having a job that allowed me to work and connect with somewhere so important to me was a good feeling, and made me feel like I was playing an important part in my own community. I still live close by so it’s these kind of stories that make local news local.”
Rural news
After finishing his Masters degree in politics at the University of Cambridge Julian joined our company as part of the Community News Project (CNP), the journalism recruitment scheme funded by tech giant Meta in conjunction with the National Council for the Training of Journalists to create new community reporter roles.
Julian joined our business to pursue his ambition of working as a journalist by starting as a CNP reporter for the mid-Devon region, where he has lived from the age of 10, by reporting on rural and agricultural news.
Julian began his work-based journalism training with Tindle in August as part of the programme delivered in partnership with the National Council for the Training of Journalists.
The CNP was launched in 2019 for Meta (formerly Facebook) to work with UK regional news publishers to support quality local journalism and improve the diversity of newsrooms. Julian will spend 24 months mixing studying for NCTJ qualifications in journalism with work-based experience. He is one of four CNP Tindle reporters to join the company this year.