Training

London Freelance Branch courses

LONDON FREELANCE Branch organises training courses for journalists - and this page is here to take you to what's on offer from us and others.

Journalism and media openings in universities 25/07/25

Investigative journalism with Andrea Glioti Pitching Clinic report

The unique challenges of English journalism Katharine Quarmby's coffee morning

The story is the key to pitching clinic with Lily Canter - writeup

Virtual coffee with the President writeup of a coffee morning

Branch meetings page constantly updated

Please do our survey...

We are keen to see what training courses and sessions LFB members would like the branch to provide. So please do tell... in strict confidence.

The more people who reply, the better. So please take a couple of minutes to do so.

Tell us what training you need and want a survey

Courses and publications a September 2022 roundup

Free data literacy for journalists course review

The Branch also holds meetings four times a year for members who are new to the NUJ or new to freelancing. These offer a chance to get acquainted with other new members and to meet members of the LFB Committee, including some more experienced freelance journalists who can offer informal advice. Please see the meetings calendar for dates and details.

NUJ courses

The NUJ centrally also offers courses: "professional training" that will help freelances and other journalists do our jobs better and "trade union training", largely to help us organise, but with wider scope. Please see both the links below for the latest in the NUJ calendar.

Professional training courses include "First Steps in Freelancing" and "Winning and negotiating freelance work", both one-day events led by SA Mathieson.

NUJ Professional Training current

NUJ Trade Union Training current

NUJ in Wales and Scotland

The NUJ in Wales and Scotland offer courses to members - which, while they are online at least, are open to all NUJ members.

In September 2024 the NUJ in Wales is offering an online course on how to "wrote the perfect press release". Charges are as follows:

NUJ members resident in Wales £15
NUJ Members not resident in Wales £30
Members of other unions resident in Wales £20
Non-union members resident in Wales £25
Other non-residents of Wales £35

NUJ Training Wales Zoom courses

In July 2024 , NUJ Scotland listed more than 40 online courses, from "Adobe Photoshop Introduction" to "Writing for the web".

Courses that last 2 to 3 hours cost £40 for NUJ members and £50 to non-members. Those that last 5 to 6 hour cost £60 for NUJ members and £75 for non-members. To book, contact joanm@nuj.org.uk and see the link below:

NUJ Training Scotland Zoom courses

External courses

The Rory Peck Trust offers fee support for freelances to do safety training courses, focusing on reporting in hazardous environments. See below.

Training Fund rorypecktrust.org

The Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU) Training initiative continues to offer a digital learning centre, which contains several learning tutorials and webinars:

Acting for Equality and Diversity
Blogging for creative freelances
Building your brand
Building your web presence
Creative productivity
Diversify your portfolio
Finance for freelances
Marketing for freelances
Negotiation for freelances
Overcoming freelance challenges
Running a social media campaign

The Centre for Investigative Journalism offers an annual summer event including much training, and some other courses. You can also access video recordings of recent CIJ talks and sessions for free.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists was in early August 2024 offering a 15 per cent discount to freelances on all its Journalism Skills Academy courses and possibly on its Professional Development courses as well.

Please also check the Freelance for news of other events.

What can we offer?

Part of the point of London Freelance Branch organising training has always been that we can experiment with innovations that others might want to take up. Please contact the Branch Training Officers with your suggestions for courses that we might offer.

To aid your inspiration, we link below to some of our recent training announcements:

Training carbon literacy 24/03/22 and more

Tell us your training needs! introducing our Training Officer, and more

Report climate change better training for just £30 - or less!
- also NUJ Training Scotland and Centre for Investigative Journalism

As the world heats, get carbon-literate for just £30 - and more

London Freelance courses August 2021
Carbon Literacy courses

London Freelance courses July 2021
Carbon Literacy courses - next 31/07/21

London Freelance courses June 2021
'An Introduction to WordPress' 24/06/21

London Freelance courses May 2021

London Freelance courses April 2021

London Freelance courses March 2021

London Freelance courses February 2021