The Yorkshire Post’s Loneliness campaign shortlisted for award

The awards recognise and reward the best examples of media coverage concerning older people’s issues and are ran by the charity Independent Age.

Reporters Lindsay Pantry and Ben Barnett have been shortlisted in the Best Factual Newspaper or Magazine Article About Older People’s Issues category, alongside entries from AA Gill at The Sunday Times, Kate Hilpern at The Independent, Deborah Orr at The Guardian, Laura Thompson at the Daily Telegraph and more. The Yorkshire Post is the only regional title to be shortlisted in the category, which last year was won by The Guardian Weekend for an investigation into woman left to starve after the care agency supporting her was shut down.

Organisers received hundreds of entries for this year’s awards, and the winners will be announced at an award ceremony hosted by journalist John Sergeant at the British Library on November 13.

The Loneliness campaign launched in February with two main aims, for loneliness to be universally recognised as a health priority in our communities and to encourage our readers to volunteer for support services.

In May the campaign was recognised by Newspaper Society when it won the Local Newspaper Week award for the newspaper campaign which had made the biggest difference to its community.

The campaign has received high-profile support from leading politicians, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, charities like Contact the Elderly, Independent Age and Friends of the Elderly, and Silver Line founder Esther Rantzen.

Managing Editor of the The Yorkshire Post, Nicola Furbisher, said: “The Yorkshire Post has been determined to bring the plight of the lonely in the region to prominence.

“It has been rewarding to see how the people of Yorkshire and beyond have taken the campaign to their hearts and it’s fantastic to see the team’s hard work recognised in this way.

“We have made great strides in tackling this blight on our society but there is still a long way to, and we’re determined to keep driving the campaign forward.”

Here is the full list of nominees in the Best Factual Newspaper or Magazine Article About Older People’s Issues category:

- The Sunday Times: Life at 60, by AA Gill

- The Times Magazine: The Care-Home Funding Nightmare, by Gail Rolfe

- The Yorkshire Post: Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic Campaign, by Lindsay Pantry and Ben Barnett

- The Guardian: Clearing Out My Parents’ House for the Final Time Brought a Certain Serenity, by Deborah Orr

- The Guardian, Money: Ted Beales is so Ill He Can’t Swallow. But the NHS Won’t Pay for His Care, by Mark Beales

- The Independent, Section2: Golden Oldies, by Kate Hilpern

- The Daily Telegraph: A More Mature View of Growing Old, by Laura Thompson

- The Times: Who Will Look After You When You’re Old? by Alice Thomson