Efforts to broaden the social and ethnic background of journalists will today receive a huge cash boost as a result of a £100,000 gift from a newspaper copyright licensing body.

The Journalism Diversity Fund pays for talented and committed people from socially and ethnically diverse backgrounds to undergo journalism training, encouraging all corners of society to be represented in the newsroom.

Today the fund will receive a cash injection of £100,000 from the Newspaper Licensing Agency, which collects copyright fees on behalf of publishers.

The gift will be presented at a reception to be held this lunchtime at Associated Newspapers’ offices in Kensington, London.

Eleven people who have received JDF bursaries for the forthcoming year are due to start their NCTJ training shortly.

They include Harvey Hook, a construction worker who is now training as a photographer, and Lee McConville, a 23-year-old from a deprived part of Birmingham who covered the G8 Summit for The Times after winning a place on a government-funded scheme.

David Pugh, managing director of the NLA, said: “The Newspaper Licensing Agency has supported the Journalism Diversity Fund since its launch and has now, with today’s cheque, contributed more than £380,000.

“The NLA and the UK newspaper publishers that it represents recognise the valuable work of the fund in developing the next generation of journalists from a variety of backgrounds. It is for that reason that the NLA has extended support for the JDF – guaranteeing a minimum donation of £100,000 this year and in each of the next two years.”

As well as securing the fund’s future, today’s lunch will also celebrate the achievements of those who have completed training thanks to the fund, and have found employment in journalism – the whole point of the scheme.

They include Chinwe Akomah, who is now a trainee reporter at the Congleton Chronicle, Ashionye Ogene, an assistant news editor at ITN, and Karen Fazackerly, sports journalist at The Press Association.