National award given to Express & Star's Feed a Family drive

The Feed a Family campaign has won this year’s Making a Difference award.

Making a Difference is part of the News Media Association’s annual Journalism Matters campaign to highlight the vital and positive role journalism plays in our society.

The public were invited to view the campaigns and to vote for their favourites.

The Feed a Family campaign won the award for regional journalism. The Sun newspaper won an award among national titles for its Give it Back campaign.

NMA chief executive Owen Meredith said: “I want to say many congratulations to the Express & Star.

“This year’s entries demonstrate the remarkable landscape of UK journalism today, highlighting the importance of trusted and quality journalism as well as showcasing news media’s powerful ability in delivering agenda-setting investigations, campaigns and scoops to the public.

“The winning campaigns, Feed A Family and Give it Back, are outstanding examples of the vital role journalism plays in our society, from informing and engaging the public to fundraising and raising awareness of important causes.

“The teams behind these campaigns should be immensely proud of their achievements.”

The Feed a Family campaign has become an annual fixture for the Express & Star and sister paper the Shropshire Star. Both titles have teamed up with foodbanks from across the region for a major push to stock up supplies ahead of Christmas. And it has been extended this year with a drive launched in summer to help during the cost of living crisis.

The campaign has proved a success, with foodbanks involved reporting a big increase in donations.

Express & Star editor Martin Wright said: “We are delighted with the award as it recognises that local journalism can make a real difference.

“We want to use the profile we have to boost the work of foodbanks and give all our readers the information they need to either get help themselves or to donate to help others.”

The Sun’s campaign Give It Back promotes help for disabled children, with the newspaper partnering with Disabled Children’s Partnership to highlight a £573m funding gap.

This year, Journalism Matters Week has seen support from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan MP.

Feed a Family provides information on how to get help and advice and also how to offer your help to foodbanks. Visit expressandstar.com/news/feed-a-family for more details.