Vote before 5pm: The campaigns, scoops and investigations which show why local journalism matters
It's Journalism Matters Week. And that means the annual vote to pick local journalism's stand-out moments!
Hello,
A special newsletter today with a simple message: It’s time to vote in the Making A Difference Awards, held every year to honour brilliant journalism, scoops and campaigns.
Every year, the News Media Association organises Journalism Matters to showcase the important role honest, accurate news reporting plays across the UK.
As ever, there has been a range of supportive statements from the great and good, such as prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and culture secretary Lisa Nandy about the need for a vibrant press. As ever, a lot of their praise has been directed at local news.
However, what matters most is the action they now deliver to support local news - be that through forcing better deals for journalism with tech companies, or intervening to halt plans to scrap the need for licensed venues to advertise their plans in local newspapers first. The latter plan, championed by business secretary Peter Kyle, threatens the ability of journalists to scrutinise important plans in advance, and also the financial model which supports journalism as well.
The consultation for that closed today.
In the meantime, the Making A Difference voting closes in just hours - a reminder of why local journalism matters so much. Here’s the shortlist - you can vote here. Voting closes at 5pm. So don’t delay!
The Making A Difference shortlist
Endo the Battle from National World
To mark Endometriosis Awareness Month in March 2025, National World launched a powerful new campaign – Endo the Battle – across its titles in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, to shine a light on the women fighting for access to care.
Endometriosis affects an estimated 1.5 million women in the UK – a painful and often debilitating condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the body. It can cause chronic pain, infertility, and have a devastating impact on quality of life. But for many, the battle doesn’t stop at symptoms – it continues through years of misdiagnosis, long NHS waiting lists, and the financial burden of private treatment.
Endo the Battle is telling the stories of women who’ve waited decades for a diagnosis, travelled thousands of miles for surgery, or been forced to pay privately for care. Some have waited nearly 11 years just to be heard.
The campaign is spearheaded by Sarah McCann, a health writer at National World who herself lives with the condition.
Bolton News: Tighten up BBL law now
The Bolton News launched its campaign, Tighten up BBL Law Now, calling for urgent reform to cosmetic surgery rules after a young woman was left minutes from death following a controversial Brazilian butt lift.
The campaign was prompted by the case of 28-year-old hairdresser Louise Moller, who underwent a so-called non-surgical BBL after being influenced by posts on social media. Just four days later, she was rushed to the hospital with sepsis and told she had only minutes to live. Doctors later revealed she had been injected with bubbles and infected by the practitioner, leaving her with permanent injuries. As well as sepsis, the fat injected into the buttocks during Brazilian butt lifts can lead to a pulmonary embolism, a blockage in a blood vessel in the lungs that can be fatal.
Louise’s mother, Janet Taylor, took her daughter’s story to The Bolton News to highlight the dangers of the procedure and to call for urgent change. Janet believes the government is moving too slowly with planned consultations on cosmetic surgery regulation and says more lives will be lost without immediate action.
Newsquest and NSPCC Christmas Appeal
n 2024, Newsquest joined forces with its charity partner, the children’s charity NSPCC, to launch a powerful, group-wide campaign aimed at bringing hope to children who need it most.
Throughout the Christmas period, thousands of children reached out to Childline – some as often as every 45 seconds – often about how to cope with abuse, neglect, or overwhelming loneliness. As a result, Newsquest launched their campaign, asking readers across the UK to donate £20 to help ensure Childline counsellors can be there to answer those calls. A single donation could help five children get the support they desperately need.
The campaign ran across Newsquest’s 200-plus titles in print and online, reaching a digital audience of over 50 million people each month. Readers sprang to action, choosing to donate toys and gifts. This Christmas appeal is the latest chapter in Newsquest’s year-long partnership with the NSPCC, which is making a real difference to children up and down the country.
MEN and Liverpool Echo Join Forces To Call For Rail Link
For the first time in their history, the Manchester Evening News and the Liverpool Echo have joined forces to launch a joint campaign calling on the government to fund a new high-speed rail line between their two cities.
Though fewer than 40 miles apart, Manchester and Liverpool remain frustratingly disconnected by outdated Victorian infrastructure. Journeys between the two are often slow, unreliable, and unfit for a modern economy. Now, the two leading regional titles are speaking with one voice to demand change.
The campaign, launched to coincide with the government’s Spending Review, called for full funding of a fast rail link that would slash journey times to just over 30 minutes, with express trains running every 10 minutes. It’s a plan that promises to unlock economic growth, create jobs, and connect communities across the North West.
Councillor’s Rental Flat Cited for Hazards
The Isle of Wight County Press reported that a councillor appointed to the island’s new housing committee was previously issued with statutory warnings over the state of a rental property, raising serious questions about oversight and suitability for the role.
The report, led by local democracy reporter Rufus Pickles, uncovered that Reform UK councillor Caroline Gladwin, who now sits on the council’s adult social care, public health and housing needs committee, was served with three legal notices by the Isle of Wight Council in early 2023.
The notices, issued under the Housing Act, related to a two-bedroom flat in Shanklin and cited a series of serious hazards, including damp and mould, rotting timbers, exposed wiring, defective guttering, and a front door without a working lock. At the time, the council assessed both Category One and Category Two risks to tenants’ health and safety.
Tindle’s Partnership with FareShare
In July 2025, Tindle Newspapers demonstrated the power of local journalism to drive meaningful change through its new partnership with the food redistributor charity, FareShare. By donating £100,000 worth of advertising space across newspapers, websites and its digital streams, the publisher used its reach to amplify the work of the charity, whose work involves redistributing surplus food to over 8,000 frontline charities and community groups across the UK.
Tindle committed its news brands to sustained editorial coverage across its titles in Wales, the South-West of England, Sussex and Surrey, ensuring that FareShare’s mission and campaigns received visibility.
Charities and community groups receiving food via the FareShare network include schools, refuges, community centres, faith groups and homelessness shelters. The food provided supports local charities to provide a range of essential services to people in need, while also enhancing employability, reducing isolation and helping to build important connections.
Barrow Mail: Save Our ICU
The Mail in Cumbria launched its major new campaign, Save Our ICU, to oppose plans to make the temporary suspension of Level Three ICU care at Furness General Hospital permanent.
The campaign was sparked by the announcement on July 15 from the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, whose preferred option would see the most seriously ill patients in Barrow and Furness permanently transferred to hospitals outside the area for the highest level of intensive care.
Backed by community voices, local leaders, and health advocates, including councillor Fred Chatfield, the mayor of Barrow, The Mail launched its campaign to stand up for patients in Furness who face being left without access to vital care on their doorstep.
BirminghamLive Child Poverty Emergency
ane Haynes, politics and people editor at the Birmingham Mail and BirminghamLive, launched an investigation into the scandal of child poverty in Birmingham – a crisis affecting more than 104,000 children across the city.
Her work, published through BirminghamLive and her paid-for newsletter Inside Birmingham, laid bare the devastating reality behind the statistics. In some of the city’s most deprived wards, three in every four children are growing up in poverty. In total, 46 per cent of Birmingham’s children now live below the poverty line – the highest rate since records began.
The campaign, titled Birmingham: A Child Poverty Emergency, is a call to action. It exposes the systemic failures that have allowed this crisis to deepen – from austerity-driven cuts and housing shortages to racial inequality and the collapse of youth services. It also highlights the resilience of families, schools, charities and communities fighting to protect children from the worst effects of deprivation.
The campaign is built around eight urgent demands.
Nottingham Post Community Centres Campaig
The Nottingham Post launched its hard-hitting campaign – Protect Nottingham Community Centres – in January 2025, calling on the city council to rethink plans that threatened the future of dozens of much-loved local institutions.
The campaign was sparked by proposals for the council to end the support it gives to Nottingham’s community centres, placing many at risk of closure. These centres, found across areas such as Sherwood, Bulwell and Lenton, provide vital spaces for everything from children’s groups and food banks to classes, social clubs and faith gatherings.
With little coverage of the issue elsewhere, Nottinghamshire Live and the Post took the lead in highlighting the potential consequences of the closures. Agenda editor Oliver Pridmore drew on a wide network of contacts to attract major support from day one, including a Nottingham Labour councillor who broke ranks with her party to back the campaign.
Trapped by RAAC - Press and Journal/Courier
A sustained campaign by The Press and Journal and its sister title The Courier delivered a landmark victory for homeowners in Torry, Aberdeen. The titles launched their joint campaign to support residents facing financial ruin and homelessness after discovering their homes were built with dangerous RAAC concrete.
The Courier in Dundee led the charge with its Trapped by RAAC campaign. The title was joined by the Aberdeen Press and Journal, which highlighted the plight of homeowners in Dundee, Stirling and Aberdeen who have been told they must evacuate their properties. The homes, many purchased through the Right to Buy scheme, were constructed using the same unstable concrete that forced emergency closures of schools and hospitals across the UK last year.
In Dundee alone, nearly 900 homes are affected – more than anywhere else in Scotland. Residents now face the impossible choice of paying tens of thousands of pounds for repairs or selling their homes at a loss for demolition.
KentOnline Blue Badge Battle
KentOnline launched its inspiring new campaign – Blue Badge Battle – calling for urgent reform to the rules governing who qualifies for a Blue Badge parking permit.
The campaign was sparked by a series of stories highlighting how cancer patients and others with life-altering conditions have been denied access to the scheme, despite facing serious mobility challenges. Among them is a 79-year-old man with leukaemia, a tumour and heart problems, who was refused a badge despite needing a stairlift and mobility scooter. Another local resident was turned down even after a cancer diagnosis, a toe amputation, and blood clots in her lungs that severely limited her ability to walk.
The campaign is being led by reporter Elli Hodgson, who said: “As soon as we published the first story on this issue, we knew there was a much larger problem. We were – and continue to be – inundated with messages from people who clearly need a temporary Blue Badge. We’re really proud to be fighting for our readers in this way, and we’ve been delighted that so many MPs have decided to back the campaign. Already, there is a lot going on at Westminster which we hope will have a positive effect.”
Inverness Courier Give Blood Save Lives
Highland News and Media launched its campaign – Give Blood, Save Lives – calling on people across the Highlands and Moray to step forward and donate blood and plasma at a time of urgent national need.
The campaign was prompted by growing concern that blood donation levels had dropped significantly in the aftermath of the pandemic. Long-term donors had fallen out of the habit, while recruitment of new donors had not kept pace. With demand for blood and plasma continuing, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service was facing a real challenge to maintain supplies.
In response, Highland News and Media teamed up with SNBTS to launch the campaign in late November 2024. The goal was clear: to secure 5,000 donations by Easter – a figure significantly higher than the number usually expected in the region over that period.
Southern Daily Echo Investigation into Hampshire Chief Constable
The Southern Daily Echo has uncovered a major policing scandal, prompting the resignation of Hampshire’s chief constable, Scott Chilton, following a series of exclusive reports into allegations of undisclosed relationships with junior colleagues.
The revelations centre on claims that Mr Chilton, a former counter-terrorism officer and head of more than 5,600 officers, staff and PCSOs across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, failed to disclose a relationship formed earlier in his policing career while serving in a senior role.
The investigation was triggered earlier this year during a separate misconduct hearing, when a former detective alleged that Mr Chilton had engaged in an affair with a junior officer. The claim led to a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which launched an investigation into whether the chief constable had breached professional standards by failing to declare a potential conflict of interest.
Cambrian News: Our Healthcare Desert
The Cambrian News launched its campaign ‘Our Healthcare Desert’ to draw attention to the neglect of healthcare and public services across west and mid Wales.
The campaign was prompted by growing frustration at the loss of vital NHS provision, the threatened relocation of air ambulance bases to more populated areas, and the continued downgrading of hospital services. For communities across west Wales, this has meant longer and more dangerous journeys to access treatment at a time when local hospitals are already stretched to the limit.
Although west Wales accounts for around a quarter of the nation, the Cambrian News reported that resources continue to flow to South Wales, north Wales and the Wrexham-Chester corridor. By contrast, rural services are being pared back, public transport remains inadequate, and long-promised rail upgrades have yet to materialise.
GrimsbyLive: Help Us Save Local Hydrotherapy Facility
The Grimsby Telegraph launched its fundraising campaign to save the local hydrotherapy facility at Humberston Park School, after reporting on its potential closure due to surging energy costs.
Within just 24 hours, the community responded with extraordinary generosity, raising £40,000 – enough to keep the pool open for at least another year.
The campaign drew support from across the region, including major contributions from local businesses. One firm, Winner Winner Chicken Dinner, donated £30,000, while Lincs Tyres pledged £8,000. Fundraising efforts continue to help meet the pool’s full £60,000 annual running costs.
The Herald: Scotland’s Forgotten Children
In May, The Herald launched a powerful campaign in partnership with 23 of Scotland’s leading children’s and anti-poverty charities, calling on the Scottish Government to take decisive action to tackle child poverty. At the heart of the campaign is a clear and urgent demand: raise the Scottish Child Payment from £27.15 to £40 per week.
The campaign was sparked by a stark reality. Despite Scotland’s targets to eradicate child poverty, The Herald found efforts were falling short. In 2023–24, 22 per cent of children were living in relative poverty, well above the interim target of 18 per cent. Even more alarming, the Herald found 80,000 children were now living in what has been described as “very deep poverty”, facing the harshest consequences of deprivation.
The Herald also found that another 17 per cent of children live in absolute poverty, where current income was less than 60 per cent of the UK median in 2010 and that nine per cent of children were considered to live in material deprivation – households without basic goods and services.
Thanks for reading,
Behind Local News