The inaugural Impact Funding Partners Photo Competition is over and a huge congratulations to all the winners. If you missed our live award show on social media, here is a roundup of all the winners and the highly commended entries that the judges felt were worth a mention…

Volunteering For All

The first category of the day was Volunteering For All which was duly awarded to Good Morning Service from Glasgow for their ‘What’s In A Hug?’ photograph. 

The category was all about celebrating volunteering and capturing what volunteering means, especially the joy and the friendships that can come from it. Nicky, CEO of Good Morning Service said that the two women in the photo, Agnes and Ibby, “have built such a trusting, warm and meaningful relationship over the phone which is captured beautifully in this photo.” You can find out more about the story behind this winning photograph here.

There were two photographs the judges deemed to be highly commendable entries and they came from Nature Unlimited and Interfaith Glasgow.  

The judges commented on the grittiness of the Nature Unlimited photograph and enjoyed seeing everybody getting “stuck in” while they really liked the Interfaith Glasgow image as an explanation of the sharing of cultures. They also commented on the fact it was an adult volunteer in the picture promoting the fact that volunteering is something for everybody and anybody, and not just for young people.  

Connected Scotland 

Connected Scotland was the next category up for grabs where the judges were looking for photographs that shined a light on what is happening throughout Scotland that aims to reduce social isolation and loneliness. The category was won by Givin’ It Laldie! 
 

The judges loved the joy that had been captured in this photo, and Givin’ It Laldie manager Clare said the man in the photo, Stephen, “always brings so much joy, fun and expression to all our choir sessions.” Read more about Clare’s reaction to winning here.

Like the Volunteering For All category, there were two highly commended entries which went to Milan SWO and Wing Hong Chinese Elderly Centre. 

The judges commented on how well constructed the Milan SWO photograph was and particularly liked the link between another culture and Scotland that was represented by Wing Hong Chinese Elderly Centre.  

Speaking about the photograph, Amy Li-Man and Jamie Lee from Wing Hong said: “It is an honor to represent the Chinese community in Scotland and to show how well the Chinese have integrated into Scottish society yet keeping our traditions.  We love the work that we do at Wing Hong and it allows us to show the community what we are doing is important to keep the Chinese community together through traditions.” 

Let’s Create A Fairer Future 

The third award of the day went to Scotland’s Bravest Manufacturing Company for this incredibly striking photograph of Gary Jamieson. The judges were struck by the power of the photograph and the relationship between the person and the machine. They also felt it was the best representation of the category’s aim of capturing equality and diversity within Scotland and its communities.

Speaking about the photograph, Nicholas, PR Manager from Scotland’s Bravest Manufacturing Company said the organisation “reinvests 100% of its surplus to provide greater employment opportunities to support veterans into employment.” You can read more from Nicholas about the work of their company here.

Two other stand out photographs which were deemed Highly Commended by the judges were entries from Show Racism The Red Card and YWCA Scotland – The Young Women’s Movement.

There was lots of discussion about these two photographs with the judges commenting on the confidence captured in both photographs and the way in which they captured a specific moment in time.  

Martin from Show Racism The Red Card said that the photograph captured “one of the many inspiring moments” the organisation experience, this one being particularly inspiring as the boy is usually described as being shy.  

Director of YWCA Scotland Dr Patrycja Kupiec spoke about the inspiring nature of their photograph. She added: “On this year’s Young Women Lead programme, all the participants are from ethnic minority backgrounds. In February 2020 they had their first Parliamentary committee meeting where they interviewed an expert panel about the transition between education and employment for ethnic minority women. This photograph shows the view from the witness panel, and since there has never been an ethnic minority woman elected to the Scottish Parliament, it is a view that has never been seen before, but one we hope will be seen again.” 

Getting It Right 

The fourth and final category of the Impact Funding Partners 2020 Photo Competition was ‘Getting It Right’, a category whose purpose was to capture how organisations make children and young people in Scotland feel safe while helping to nurture and educate them to be respectful and high achieving individuals. 

It was won by Nature Unlimited for their ‘Selkirk Silhouettes’ photograph, one which all the judges loved as it perfectly captured young people being free to explore the natural world. 

Speaking about the photograph, Jan from Nature Unlimited said what she liked most about the photograph was, “how relaxed and connected to nature the children are and also celebrates the beauty of the environment they’re in.” You can read more about the inspiration behind the photograph here.

As always there were two photographs in this category which the judges felt deserved a highly commended mention. They came from Linkes and Interfaith Glasgow. 

he judges enjoyed the composition of the Linkes photograph while commenting on how Interfaith Glasgow’s photo captured how engaged the young people are in creating art.  
 
Commenting on their highly commendable status Elaine, Senior Development Officer from Linkes, said: “The photo provides an alternative narrative to life on a high-rise estate. We like the smiling faces of the children, the fact that the contribution of the local services is reflected in the photo and the sun and blue skies. Children are the future of the estates and our hope for change.” 

Thank You 

And that’s it! Thank you very much to everybody who entered into our photography competition. Everybody here at Impact Funding Partners had a great time looking at all your entries and picking out our own personal favourites.  
 
A big thank you also goes to our three judges Kathryn Welch, Sam McDiarmid and Janie Meikle Bland who had the very difficult task of choosing the winners.  

We hope you enjoyed our competition. You can look at all the entries over at our Flickr page.