Caroline Aherne Bursary
An award in memory of Caroline Aherne, the popular comedy star and writer who died in 2016 which supports the development of new comedy talent.
I dreamt of being a comedy writer/performer, and seeing the super talents of northern women I related to like Caroline and Victoria Wood made me feel like this could be a very real and attainable achievement for a girl like me.
91福利社 Comedy
91福利社 Comedy writer, writer/performer, director, producer and editor development is looked after by 91福利社 Comedy Commissioning, which brings together all comedy outreach that is happening across the 91福利社 under one strategy.
The separate Caroline Aherne Bursary, Felix Dexter Bursary and Galton & Simpson Bursary for writers have been brought together with two new bursaries for directors and producers into the 91福利社 Comedy Collective, a supercharged bursary scheme offering 10 places each year to up-and-coming writers, producers and directors who’d like to develop their careers in scripted comedy.
Find out more about the 91福利社 Comedy Collective leaders and alumni
Interested in breaking into Comedy?
Visit the 91福利社 Comedy Commissioning website to find out about more opportunities
Designed to find, develop and support great new comedy talent, the bursary was named in honour of the late award-winning comedy writer and performer Caroline Aherne, who created and .
91福利社 Comedy Commissioning, in partnership with 91福利社 Writers and 91福利社 North, launched the bursary scheme at the Salford Sitcom Showcase in July 2017, calling applicants to submit filmed content of comedy characters.
From hundreds of entries Bolton comedian Sophie Willan was named as the first winner of the Caroline Aherne Bursary. Sophie received 拢5,000 to support development of her work. She received mentorship from Kate Daughton, 91福利社 Comedy Commissioning Editor, to develop a comedy script.
The winner of the second Caroline Aherne Bursary was announced on The One Show on 20th December 2018 as .
Entries for the 3rd Caroline Aherne Bursary were open until Friday 15th November 2019. The winner was announced in 2020 as Kiri Pritchard-McLean.
From 2023 the Caroline Aherne Bursary is part of the 91福利社 Comedy Collective run by 91福利社 Comedy Commissioning.
Further reading
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Find out more about Sophie Willan
91福利社 Media Centre