Former students win awards at regional newspaper event

By UK Journalism

Two former students have received awards at a North West Newspaper event.

Jennifer Hollamby, who now works for the Oldham Chronicle, was named Young Journalist of the Year and Stef Hall from the Lancashire Evening Post was runner up in the same category.

Jennifer is a former UCLan Postgraduate Newspaper student and Stef is a graduate of the BA (Hons) Journalism degree. They initially made the shortlist of applicants from newspapers across the North West region before the winner was announced at an award ceremony.

Career boost

Winner Jennifer said: ìI am really pleased to have won this award. Iíve never won anything like this before and it will be a massive boost to my career.î

Stef commented: ìI felt thrilled when I discovered I had been nominated. It happened the same week I found out I had been promoted to Crime Reporter so it was a double delight.î

Applicants were allowed to submit up to 12 pieces of work to enter and the category is open to any journalist under the age of 30. Jennifer submitted several stories on drug use as well as some light hearted pieces including a story on the popularity of bingo amongst young people. Stefës main story was on a court case following a two year LEP investigation.

She said: ìThe story was part of our Stop the Pedlars of Death suicide chat rooms campaign into a man who offered to help teenagers kill themselves. I also wrote articles about Preston Cemetery workers threatening to make graves shorter and remove decorations to meet guidelines.î

Jennifer received a cheque for £700 and a certificate whilst Stef was also given a certificate and a cheque for £150. The ceremony was held at the Radisson SAS Hotel Manchester Airport and the event was sponsored by Sellafield Ltd.

Jennifer added: ìThe ceremony was quite glamorous without being too intimidating. We had a surprise tour around Concorde and was even presented with our prizes from an ex Concorde pilot."

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