
Published: Thu 13 Dec 2018
Florence Dobson announced as inaugural recipient of The Tony Warren Drama Bursary
ITV is extremely pleased to reveal the inaugural recipient of the Tony Warren Drama Student Bursary as Florence Dobson from Ulverston, Cumbria.
Florence began her training on the BA (Hons) in Acting at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) this September and is already fast becoming one to watch'.
A supporter of the initiative, actor/director and long-time friend of Tony Warren, Noreen Kershaw, said: Watching Florence audition was one of those moments when you just know you've got the right person. Her natural acting skills are absolutely exceptional and her ability to move us from laughter to tears with her delivery in the audition room was outstanding - and this is before her 3 years of RADA training!
On a more poignant note, I absolutely know Tony would adore Florence and be so excited to see her progress over the coming years. I genuinely believe there could not be a better first recipient for his bursary .
Ex Coronation Street Producer, Carolyn Reynolds, who was instrumental in developing the bursary said: Tony experienced the hardships facing young, talented students from the north who were desperately seeking training and recognition in London. It's wonderful to see his dream realised, I'm grateful for Noreen's unfailing support and to everyone at ITV who helped make this happen.
On receiving the bursary, Florence said: I am honoured and so grateful to receive the Tony Warren Bursary. Being the youngest of four, raised single-handedly by our mum, this award has relieved the financial worries I had when planning my move to London to start at RADA, and has enabled me to focus fully on my training.
It is so reassuring that the lack of funding for disadvantaged young actors in the north west is being addressed, and the Tony Warren Bursary is a wonderful example of the many ways this can be achieved.
As I am the first recipient of this award, I feel very passionate about sharing its cause and I urge anyone wishing to audition for drama school, but who believes it is financially impossible, to seek such support - and to understand that it is out there, and that it is absolutely possible.
Lucy Skilbeck, Director of Actor Training at RADA, said Florence has excelled in her first term at RADA. She brings warmth, openness, vitality and generosity to her work and is an outstanding company member.
Her energy and positivity make her a joy to work with and have yielded evident results in the short time she has been training. It will be exciting to watch her journey through the course - she has a bright future, and we're delighted that she has been awarded the first bursary in this new scheme to support her through the next three years.
The ITV Tony Warren Bursary will choose a student from the NW each year and support them throughout their drama training. For full details and how to apply for the ITV Tony Warren Drama Student Bursary go to: http://itvresponsibility.com/news/itv-studios-launches-drama-school-bursary/
Editors notes:
The Tony Warren Bursary
Announced earlier this year the Bursary's first recipient, Florence Dobson, began her training at RADA in September 2018. RADA accepts 28 students a year on the three-year BA (Hons) in Acting from around 3300 applicants.
A professional actor before he became a writer, Coronation Street creator, Tony Warren, was always a champion of local talent and acutely aware of just how difficult it was for disadvantaged young people to get a step on to the drama school ladder. Shortly before his death in 2016 he discussed his wish for Coronation Street and ITV to establish a bursary that would support local actors from disadvantaged backgrounds in to training at drama school.
After extensive research ITV announced the Bursary noting they would work with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) and Manchester School of Theatre, part of Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU).
All the above schools are recognised industry leaders who regularly hold auditions in Manchester and the north west proving their links with the city and the region.
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA)
RADA offers world-leading vocational training in the dramatic arts for actors, stage managers, designers and technical stagecraft specialists.
Applications are currently open for RADA's full-time courses for entry in September 2019, with undergraduate and postgraduate options in acting and theatre production. Auditions and interviews take place across the UK including in Manchester in March 2019.
RADA was founded on the principle that all students with talent can train regardless of their background and circumstances.
As a charity, RADA fundraises to secure funds committed to increasing access to our training through widening participation initiatives, and supporting a diverse cohort of student in undertaking their training by awarding scholarships.
More information is available at rada.ac.uk.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
02/12/2025
Case Study: How Mid-Atlantic Sports Network Moved to All-IP Distribution in 60 D...
02/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Lee Corso, Coach, Commentator, FirebrandBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | S...
02/12/2025
SVG All-Stars: Dan Nabors, Senior Director, Remote Engineering, TNT SportsThe veteran tech leader is helping guide Warner Bros. Discovery's at-home' re...
02/12/2025
National Lacrosse League Opens Season With New Cloud-Based Official Replay-Revie...
02/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: The Cinematic Look in Live Production - Bridging Aesthetic...
02/12/2025
SVG India Announces Advisory Board; JioStar's Prashant Khanna Named ChairmanBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 11:15 am
Print This Story |...
02/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: New AI Production Tools Workshop' Features ESPN, F...
02/12/2025
Written and directed by Hailey Gates, Atropia won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival....
02/12/2025
The lightweight and highly portable CORVUS-RAVEN, recently demonstrated at the V...
02/12/2025
The lightweight, rugged Panther 2 tri-band VSAT delivers high-speed data communications for Internet, VPN connectivity and video transmission over commercial an...
02/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
02/12/2025
NGID volunteers in the United States
NGID volunteers in Mexico
NGID volunteers in India
NGID volunteers in Spain
NGID volunteers in Australia
NGID voluntee...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
SAN DIEGO Sony Electronics today introduced the Alpha 7 V (ILCE-7M5), the fifth generation of its Alpha 7 full-frame mirrorless lineup, powered by the newly dev...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has opened a docket for comments on Nexstar Media Group's proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna and se...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters has added a trio of media executives, Veronica Rodriguez, Matt Schnaars and Jeff Warshaw, to its board of di...
02/12/2025
MILAN, Italy Brightcove has released seven new features designed to expand global reach, improve audience engagement, enhance live-streaming quality and streaml...
02/12/2025
BCNEXXT, the developers of the advanced playout platform Vipe, today announced a new Service Provider Partner agreement with NPC Media, the Australian managed p...
02/12/2025
DPA Microphones today announces the immediate availability of its new N-Series Digital Wireless Microphone System for customers throughout the U.S. In addition ...
02/12/2025
Hiltron Communications reports a well attended and successful Space Tech Expo exhibition, held at the Messe Bremen from Tuesday November 18 through Thursday Nov...
02/12/2025
The beginning of September saw Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust, in association with Channel 9 and Triple M, kick off the 2025 Brisbane Festival in spec...
02/12/2025
SGM Lighting is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with ACT Entertainment, under which ACT will serve as the exclusive distributor for SGM's ne...
02/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that Telia, the second largest telecom operator in Norway, is modernizing its broadband network with the company's i...
02/12/2025
European cloud data protection specialist Keepit is expanding its sales network in the DACH region and has gained TIM AG, one of the leading value-added distrib...
02/12/2025
Featured products at ISE 2026
This year s ISE 2026 theme "Push Beyond" reflects Calrec s direction of travel. The company is dedicated to supporting the AV an...
02/12/2025
Czech Television, the national public broadcaster, has deployed one of the largest LiveU live production projects in the region for live sports and news coverag...
02/12/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, has announced the release of v8.2 software for its ZEN and ZEN-W Series, bringing advanced cinematic camera se...
02/12/2025
Global provider of video streaming software and services, Accedo, and OTT platform provider, Magine Pro, have signed a binding agreement to carve out and merge ...
02/12/2025
With proven success in broadcast, OTT, and content supply chains, K.S Avinash set to scale Skandha's service-first approach across APAC
Skandha Media Servi...
02/12/2025
AJA Video Systems has joined the RAVENNA community, a network of partners devoted to advancing the RAVENNA standard for distributing real-time audio over intern...
02/12/2025
HUNT VALLEY, Md. Sinclair and its wholly-owned subsidiary One Media Technologies have released a new report focused on how ATSC 3.0, the IP-based NextGen TV sta...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON Members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee have elected four industry veterans to three-year terms on the organization's board of direc...
02/12/2025
A new survey from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan highlights how important social media is for younger consumers, with Gen Z spending 5.1 hours a day on so...
02/12/2025
Faculty Notes: Fall/Winter 2025 Recent accomplishments, releases, and events by Berklee faculty.
December 1, 2025
By
Editorial Staff
The cast of Kind of M...
02/12/2025
Ring In The Holidays With Our Biggest Sale Ever On Ivory II Pianos!From now until December 31st, you can save 50% or more on every Ivory II piano and collection...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Made in America: How Stranger Things' Electrified the US Economy
Entertainment
02 December 2025
GlobalUnited States
Link copied to cl...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Culinary Class Wars' Season 2 Trailer Teases New Rules, R...
02/12/2025
--
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Telecommunication Unio...
02/12/2025
Harmonic's cOS Platform Will Redefine Subscribers' Quality of Experience, Lowering Churn SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 2, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today...
02/12/2025
At AWS re:Invent, NVIDIA and Amazon Web Services expanded their strategic collab...
02/12/2025
S an Nollaig
Hollywood blockbusters The Banshees of Inisherin, Barbie and Oppenheimer make their Irish TV debut
Tune into the classics such as Love Actual...
02/12/2025
Showcasing fresh Irish storytelling and emerging talent Storyland 2025 signals a fantastic time for Irish drama
RT and F s ireann/Screen Ireland are proud to...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...