The award has been created to honour the memory of Robin Hutt, a founder member of the film club, who guided and served on our committee since its foundation in 1989, including serving as chairman for many years. The sudden death of Robin in January last year shocked and saddened all who knew him. He was passionate about film and always kept in mind the main aim of the club, which was to bring fine films from around the world to an audience who would not normally have an opportunity to see them. His hard work and guidance has helped to ensure the continuance of large audiences for the films and to maintain the club's proud achievement of having one of the largest memberships in the country.

The committee has agreed to the instigation of an award of £500 to be offered once a year to a Cumbrian filmmaker. The award will be aimed at filmmakers who are actively involved in filmmaking and may need a boost to get a film off the ground or to develop their film making skills. Initially, the award will be offered annually for four years.

How to apply

You need to write to us, telling us a little bit about yourself and the project the award will fund. We're not looking for huge amounts of detail, but the more information you are able to provide will allow us to gauge your eligibility.

The address to write to is:

Film Club at the Roxy, 4 Bradyll Terrace, Ulverston, LA12 0DR

You should ensure that you include:

* Your name, age, address and contact telephone number. It may seem obvious, but occasionally people forget!

* An overview of the proposal. Give us some information on what the award will be funding, and how it fits in with your future plans. If you're collaborating with other people, then give us a little information on who they are and how they will be involved. This is your opportunity to pitch your ideas to us, so really sell it!

* Tell us about yourself. We want to know what your aspirations are, what you've done in the past, and where you'd like to be in the future. Also tell us about any training you might have received.

* How the money will be spent. Give us an overview of how you will spend the award. We don't want cash flows and balance sheets, but we need to know how the award will be used.

* Why you think you should receive the award. What makes you more deserving than other applicants? And tell us what benefits your project would bring, including your own personal development. Don't be shy: tell us what makes you the best choice for the award!

* Whether you've applied for funding previously. Even if you've been unsuccessful, we need to know if you've ever applied for or received funding from any other source.

What we are looking for

We're looking for aspiring and enthusiastic filmmakers living and working in Cumbria, who want to undertake a project which the award can support. You can be of any age over 18, but filmmaking must be more than a hobby to you: we're looking for people who are passionate about filmmaking.

What we are not looking for

If you are already an established filmmaker, then this is not the award scheme for you. We're not looking to fund large projects, so the award is not eligible for match funding.

The application process

Awards will be allocated on an annual basis, and the decision will be made by our committee. You can apply at any time between April - June 2009 but the cut-off date for submissions is 1pm on Tuesday 30th June 2009. The award will be made in August 2009-

We will not write to you to acknowledge receipt of your application, so we recommend you send it by recorded delivery. We will, however, write to all applicants after we have considered all applications.

We may want to speak to you before we make a final decision on the award, which will either be in person or over the phone. We'll get in touch with you if this is the case.