A zest for student life and oodles of public spirit helped clinch the 2024 Adam Redfern Prize for De Montfort University Journalism graduate Theo Chapman.
Keen sportsman Theo, who collected a first-class degree at the DMU graduations at Leicester’s Curve theatre this month, said winning the award “meant the world” to him.
The prize is given annually to an outstanding Leicester Media School student who embodies the exceptional qualities shown by much-loved Journalism graduate Adam Redfern, who died suddenly in 2021 and who has been described as ‘the best of DMU in one person’.
Theo, from Colwyn Bay in north Wales, proved a worthy winner by juggling the demands of his studies with a bulging extra-curricular diary. He played in goal for the DMU men’s hockey team, and served as the club’s media officer. He volunteered for Disability Skiing Wales and as a research champion for Crohn’s and Colitis UK. He also found time to act as mentor for new Journalism students. His dedication to sport and charity work had previously earned him a scholarship from the Adam Redfern Memorial Fund, which supports final-year students with a flair for media, journalism and sport at DMU.
The 21-year-old said: “It feels really touching to win a prize which is named in memory of someone who encapsulated the essence of DMU, and someone who was such a driven journalism student. I know that Adam was a brilliant young journalist student, a respected member of DMU Football and, ultimately, a talented young man.
“It means so much to me on a personal level, as there have been times in my life where I’ve been lying in hospital beds, or even bound to my own bed, where it’s felt like I wasn’t going to make it anywhere in my life.
“So to receive this award means the world to me, and has offered the perfect opportunity to reflect on all that I’ve overcome to get to this point. But this is only the start. It’s fuel to add to the fire, and motivation to keep succeeding.”
Adam, who was editor of The Demon and played for the university’s men’s football team in his undergraduate days, went on to work for DMU as a social media and digital communications officer. He died of a heart attack at the age of 28, while out jogging.
The prize was launched in 2022 by his parents, Ian and Christine Redfern, from Long Eaton in Derbyshire. The previous winners are former DMU Journalism students Tom Carter and James Kendrick.
“Adam loved his time at DMU, both as a Journalism student and subsequently, an employee,” said Ian. “He was also passionate about his career in media. From our perspective, there can be no better way to honour Adam’s memory than to support current Media School students through the scholarships and prizes which the Fund is able to offer.
“Theo clearly immersed himself deeply into university life and made a lasting impression on everyone he interacted with at DMU and beyond; much as Adam had done as an undergraduate. It makes Theo a very fitting and thoroughly deserving recipient of this year’s prize.”
For his final-year project, Theo created a podcast series called Breaking the Badge, which explored the links between disability and identity. Episodes included an interview with a player from the England blind football team. Theo was also an integral part of a third-year group who produced a glossy football magazine called The Long Ball.
He said his time as a Journalism student has helped build his self-belief. “The DMU Journalism course allowed me to polish off a well-rounded arsenal of journalistic skills,” he said.
“I learned to communicate. Through writing, yes, but also with my peers, other journalists, and interviewees. I learned to build relationships, but also to maintain them, to leave me in a position where I could contact contributors again if I needed anything else.
“But above all, it gave me confidence. Confidence that I could talk to people, confidence that I could produce content, but above all, confidence in myself.”
A 5k run and a football tournament are staged in Leicester each year in Adam’s memory. Find out more here.
