Member Article

Leeds’ graduate cheered on by House of Lords boost

A Leeds Metropolitan University journalism graduate is turning a cheerleading magazine she created for her degree into a business venture after winning an award at the House of Lords for the project.

Last month, Charlotte Corner missed her graduation to attend the prestigious Print Futures Award ceremony where she won a £1,500 prize for her idea to create the magazine, The Cheerleader, from scratch.

The 21-year-old from Leeds, who achieved a first class honours in her degree, is now using her award to help launch the niche publication.

Charlotte said: “I had to create a magazine for one of my last projects in my final year at Leeds Met. My boyfriend Nathan Cookson is a cheerleading coach and the idea to make The Cheerleader escalated after I had a dream that I created a cheerleading magazine for my coursework.

“I’ve never been a cheerleader myself, but I quickly realised that not only is the sport extremely popular in the UK, but there is a huge gap in the market for a niche publication dedicated to the cheerleading community. The magazine will be aimed at teenagers: my goal is for it to be the Cosmopolitan for cheerleaders!

Charlotte, who is also in the process of launching a website to go with the magazine, plans for the 40-page, paid-for magazine to be quarterly and to include features on UK cheerleading teams, cheerleading activities and tips and a round-up of news within the cheerleading community.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Addison .