Tim Cornwell was a journalist, latterly the arts correspondent with The Scotsman.
He died suddenly last year, and now The Mental Health Foundation Fringe Award will be supported by the Cornwell Charitable Trust for the next two years in his memory.
The award was set up in 2017 to recognise the most compelling Fringe show about mental health and is presented by the Mental Health Foundation and supported by the Scotsman newspaper.
Andrew Eaton-Lewis, arts programme officer, Mental Health Foundation said: “Tim was a terrific and often underrated writer, on almost any subject you could think of; he was also very open about his mental health struggles. He was a valued member of the judging panel for the Mental Health Foundation Fringe Award, a task to which he brought both his personal insights and his many years of experience as an arts journalist. We are very grateful to the Cornwell Charitable Trust for offering to support this award; it feels like a fitting tribute, celebrating both Tim’s long relationship with the Edinburgh Fringe and his achievements in reducing the stigma around mental health.”
Tim worked as arts correspondent for the Scotsman, previously as their deputy foreign editor covering many major international stories like OJ Simpson and the Columbine massacre. He lived with bipolar disorder and died of a pulmonary embolism last June when he had only just finished editing A Private Spy. This is a collection of letters written by his father, author John Le Carré, and has been acclaimed by literary critics. Tim was gracious and after leaving The Scotsman he wrote for The Edinburgh Reporter sporadically.
The award’s first three winners were all showcased at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival in May the following year, in partnership with the Tron Theatre. With the festival now moving to October, award-winners from 2023 onwards will be offered a flexible package of support tailored to the needs of each creative team and the future development of the show, which may include mentoring support and mental health training, support with funding applications and/or a contribution to production costs.
If you would like to be considered for the Mental Health Foundation Fringe Award please contact Andrew Eaton-Lewis on aeaton-lewis@mentalhealth.org.uk.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
