The British Podcast Awards have launched an initiative that offers financial support to podcasters to enhance their shows. It is called the BPA fund. Launching the fund is a £50,000 partnership with Wellcome to create an exciting new opportunity for podcasters and their listeners to champion conversations around how science affects our health, called The Pulse Award.

Co-founder Matt Hill said, “this award is a great opportunity for podcasts of all shapes and sizes to elevate their use of the latest scientific research. And the best thing is we’re not limiting this to factual or science podcasts – we welcome entries from all genres, from fiction to true crime.”

The Pulse Award will award podcasts with grants of up to £50,000 to make health-focused features, episodes, and short series that engages listeners in science and health research.

Imran Khan, Head of Public Engagement at Wellcome said: “Wellcome invests in science and health research, and we want everyone to be able to benefit from that. So it’s really important to us that the public feels they can engage with science and health research. Podcasts are an important and growing medium that can help that connection.”

Imran Khan continued, “When we launched Wellcome Global Monitor earlier this year, we found that people who feel like they benefit from science are seven times more likely to trust science than those who don’t feel that way. The Pulse Award will help us to address this gap by bringing more, and more diverse, people to the conversation about science and health.”

Those who would like to read more information, or who want to apply for the award, can do so at the British Podcast Awards website. The British Podcast Awards Fund will close applications on November 17, 2019. Successful applicants will be announced at the beginning of December of 2019. Listeners can expect to hear results in April of 2020.