Sussex Coastal Scene Wins National Charity Prize

A photographer who created an image of the waters of the English Channel at Lancing has been honoured for her work by a national charity supporting seafarers.

Katie Vincent's image "Into The Mist" (above) has been honoured by the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society in their eighth Annual Photography Competition.

Katie is one of four category winners, taking the prize in the "People and Recreation" section for her work.

The society said its competition encouraged "photographers of all abilities" to capture the "essence of the UK's enduring connection with the sea".

Its judges were Sophie Batterbury (picture editor at "The i"), Ray Wells (former picture editor, The Sunday Times), and the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society chief exec, Capt. Justin Osmond.

Earlier this year the Society said it launched a £1m Covid response fund, supplementing the Society's existing annual grant expenditure of £1.4m, to provide support for working maritime professionals impacting by the coronavirus pandemic.

The charity's applications for grants during this period has more than doubled, highlighting just how many livelihoods within the industry have been affected by the crisis. 

To view a full gallery of this year's winning images, visit: https://shipwreckedmariners.org.uk/photography-competition-2020/ .

According to the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, it supports fishermen, merchant mariners and their dependants who are suffering financial hardship, whether due to accident, ill health, unemployment or in retirement after a life spent working at sea.