Scots church to win £1,500 in competition
An overall winner will land cash prize of £5,000
Churches in Scotland are missing out on a £1,500 prize in UK-wide photography competition.
One Scottish church will win £1,500 – but just two Scottish churches have entered so far.
Eight prizes of £1,500 will be awarded to six English regions plus Wales and Scotland winners.
A prize of £5,000 will be awarded to the overall winner following a public vote as the competition seeks to showcase the hidden treasures in the UK’s churches.
Parish Pixels is a new national photography competition for churches in England, Wales and Scotland, launched by Ecclesiastical Insurance. The insurer is calling on budding photographers to capture the essence of their church in a single snapshot.
Churches will need to submit a single photograph and a one-sentence caption to accompany it.
The image can be of people, places, features, artefacts or anything that highlights the uniqueness of the church or its importance to its local community.
Ecclesiastical will showcase some of the best entries on its website and social media channels. A panel of judges, which will include representatives from the regions, will select eight winners from across the UK who will each receive a prize of £1,500 for their church.
Following this, the public will be given the chance to vote for their favourite image before Ecclesiastical and church representatives select an overall winner. The overall winner will receive a £5,000 prize for the church.
Michael Angell, church operations director at Ecclesiastical, explained the thinking behind this year’s competition. He said: ‘There are so many unique and fascinating items, stories and people at our churches and we really wanted to find a way to highlight these.
‘We are all aware of the extraordinary items that can be found in the UK’s cathedrals, and places like St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey naturally attract tourists. But there are hidden treasures that are much closer to our own homes. We hope that Parish Pixels helps highlight some of these and encourages people to visit their local church.’
The competition closes on October 31 but so far just two Scottish churches have entered. For more, go to www. ecclesiastical.com/parishpixels