Ian Thompson Bursary Award 2024
Thank you to those who nominated. The application form is now closed and no further applications will be accepted. The winners will be announced during the annual dinner held in Coventry on the evening of 6th March 2024.
British APCO announced the launch of the Ian Thompson Bursary Award 2024 at the Newcastle event in November 2023.
Recognition and celebration of innovation and success, as both individuals and as team members, should be par for the course of being a British APCO member. It is an important ingredient for galvanising a professional community spirit amongst the Association. Our former Chief Executive Ian Thompson, who passed away in 2020, was a great advocate for education and developing young talent within the public safety industry. During Ian’s tenure, it was often discussed how we should support the development of these individuals while at the same time promoting British APCO and furthering its charitable objectives. The Board have been considering an award in Ian’s name for some time and were delighted to have announced the formal launch of the award.
The award is open to applicants of all ages in the first 2 or 3 years of working or studying in the field of critical communications in public safety within the UK and Ireland; they could have a role in a user organisation, employed by a supplier or in full time studies.
The award consists of a bursary which will cover the cost of travel, accommodation, and ancillary costs, accompanying a British APCO Board member to (for 2024) either EENA (Valencia, Spain), Critical Comms World (Dubai), NENA (Kissimmee, Florida), ACPO International (Orlando, Florida) or ACPO Canada (Toronto), or a similar event at the discretion of the Board.
Recipients will be expected to use the opportunity to focus on an aspect of their employment/ studies that that will be seen as of interest and relevance to critical communications in the UK and Ireland. There will be an expectation on the individual to present their findings at one of our conferences (costs to be covered by British APCO) and to supply an article for the BAPCO Journal on their experience and findings. During the year following the award, they will be invited to attend the Advisory Group to gain insight into the Association and will have access to the Chief Operating Officer and Board members who will undertake an advisory/mentoring role as appropriate to the circumstances and needs of the individual(s).
Guidance for Applicants
The Ian Thompson Bursary is intended to be awarded annually. We have deliberately kept the process simple – and our initial experience has proved that this has helped to encourage the widest possible range of applications. And the Bursary is not limited to just the one award per year; British APCO will make multiple awards if there are several strong submissions.
Applicants are encouraged to refer to our Mission, Vision, and Values in the About Us section on the British APCO web site and consider how their proposal supports these.
The judges will be looking to reward innovation and those with a desire to further understand the field of critical communications within the public safety sector. Importantly, they will be looking at how you will be able to feedback findings from the year to the wider British APCO community.
All nominations are treated in the strictest of confidence. Personal information is subject to the “need to know‟ principle; only the judges will receive this, and we will not keep this information once the final judging decisions have agreed.
Should you require any clarification pre submission deadline day (preferably before 15th January) then do contact support@bapco.org.uk.