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Backstage at the Whitley Awards 2020: A Celebration

See behind the scenes of WFN's first ever virtual event.

After it became clear that COVID-19 would prevent us coming together in person this year, we took the difficult decision to postpone our Whitley Awards Ceremony for the first time since the charity was founded in 1993. But the team saw an opportunity to do things differently and set a course for WFN’s first ever virtual event.

Come Wednesday 2 December, the Whitley Awards were broadcast live from Floating Harbour film studios in Bristol – basically, as WFN Ambassador and presenter Kate Humble put it, a barge. Over 2,000 people have tuned in from around the world to celebrate the new 2020 Whitley Award winners (and you can still watch the show on demand).

See behind the scenes of our ship for the night.

WFN Ambassador, Tom Heap, backstage at the 2020 Whitley Awards
WFN Ambassador, Tom Heap, in rehearsals
WFN Ambassador, Kate Humble, in rehearsal for the 2020 Whitley Awards
WFN Ambassador, Kate Humble, in rehearsals
The crew backstage at the 2020 Whitley Awards
The WFN team and Floating Harbour crew in the production studio
The crew backstage at the 2020 Whitley Awards
The Floating Harbour crew in the production studio
Setting up the live studio
Setting up the live studio
Backstage at the 2020 Whitley Awards
Setting up the live studio
WFN Ambassador, Tom Heap, in rehearsal for at the 2020 Whitley Awards
WFN Ambassador, Tom Heap, getting ready to go live
WFN Ambassador, Kate Humble, in rehearsal for at the 2020 Whitley Awards
WFN Ambassador, Kate Humble, getting ready to go live
WFN team backstage at the 2020 Whitley Awards
WFN Ambassadors, Tom Heap and Kate Humble with WFN team, Danni Parks and Lydia Johnson