Five finalists, one amazing prize. Who will win £7,000 to create the audio documentary of their dreams? Join us at The Whickers Radio and Audio Funding Award as we bring together finalists from around the world to pitch their non-fiction projects to a panel of top industry judges: In The Dark founder Nina Garthwaite, Overcoat Media’s Steven Rajam and BBC commissioner Steve Titherington. As well as the winner’s £7,000, a mightily handy £3,000 will be gifted to the runner-up.

The finalists fo the 2019 RAFA Award are:

A Perfect Match | Ibby Caputo

A Perfect Match is the story about who is more likely to live and who is more likely to die after being diagnosed with blood cancer. It’s a personal story about bone marrow transplantation that illuminates a much larger story about racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare around the world.

Ibby Caputo is an award-winning journalist based in the U.S. and the Senior Editor of the podcast Overheard at National Geographic.

BLIND.ED | Ade Bamgbala
BLIND.ED (Blind Education) is an innovative documentary for ‘third culture kids’. We follow Ade, a 30-year-old British-Nigerian man, attempting to make a working sense of his identity by travelling to Nigeria to visit his father, look him dead in his eyes and ask the question ‘where have you been?’

Ade Bamgbala is a freelance digital marketing coach and the founder of Blacticulate, a platform that shares black stories and positive actions via podcasts and workshops. He produced and hosted award-nominated podcast Blacticulate, Stories that Stick and an ongoing advice series called Gradual podcast for the University of Arts London.

Building the Wall | Becca Bryers
Building the Wall follows sports chaplain Richard Gamble, who believes God has told him to build a national monument dedicated to Christian prayer, as he pushes himself to the limit – mentally, financially and spiritually – to make it a reality.

Becca Bryers has spent most of her career producing live radio for BBC Local Radio and now makes the award-winning podcast, Multi Story.

Hummingbird Stories | Navin Sam Regi
Set in one of Australia’s three children’s hospices, this is a story of grief and loss.

Navin Sam Regi is a journalist and educator interested in marrying documentary photography with narrative audio, living in Brisbane, Australia.

I Am The River, The River Is Me | Rikke Houd
In this documentary, you meet a being that happens to be a river. You meet people who hurt when the river hurts and people who hurt it.

Rikke Houd is an award winning Danish independent working internationally in the field of crafted audio storytelling and documentary art.