A Brighton Journalist Works student, who didn’t go to school nor straight to university, but still managed to pass her journalism exams, has just landed a lead story and four-page feature in the Guardian Newspaper.
29 year old Roxy Freeman, who now lives in Brighton, wrote the feature, for the G2 section of the newspaper, about her childhood as a travelling gypsy and her struggle to get an education as an adult.
She wrote a first-hand account of travelling round Ireland with her six siblings and three- half sisters, in a horse-drawn wagon. Where, instead of going to school, Roxy learnt how to live off the land identifying ink cap mushrooms and gathering wild watercress.
She described how she grew up and became a successful Flamenco dancer until she felt an overwhelming need to get a formal education. She plucked up the courage to go on a college access course, did an Open University Degree Course and finally applied for a place at Brighton Journalist Works.
Within a few weeks of completing the journalism course, Roxy went on placement at the Guardian on their Positive Action Scheme which supports journalists from ethnic minorities.
Roxy’s mentor on the scheme, Aditya Chakrabortty, said: “The scheme has been designed for people just like Roxy. It’s to help people with talent who don’t normally have the connections to break into national newspapers. The aim is to show them how a national paper works and it also lets our editors know the huge amount of talent that is out there from non-traditional backgrounds. Roxy herself was an excellent trainee, with a talent for writing. The article about her gypsy childhood was well written and compellingly told. I am confident she will go on to great things.”
The Managing Director of Brighton Journalist Works, Paula O’Shea, says she was impressed with Roxy when she first met her: “Roxy’s potential shone through at the interview and it was clear she had overcome a number of hurdles to get this far. She passed her NCTJ aptitude test and worked hard to complete our fast track NCTJ accredited journalism (Sub-editing) course. Our 10- week course, based in the headquarters of the Argus Newspaper, taught her the basics of news and feature writing and how to use Quark Express but Roxy did the rest. Roxy has a great future ahead of her.”
As a result of going on the Journalism Works course, Roxy had the opportunity to write about her story in her own words. Having gone on placement, as part of her course, and having worked closely with the journalism tutors, she had the confidence to approach the Guardian: “The tutors at Brighton Journalist Works were extremely supportive to me – they taught me the necessary skills to become a journalist. They were inspiring and helped me gain the confidence and qualifications I needed for a journalism career.”
