Investigations team at JPIMedia honoured for mental health series

By Claire Wilde, JPI Investigations Team

The JPIMedia Investigations team has won a prestigious award in recognition of its work around mental health.

The team picked up a Mind Media Award for its Veterans in Crisis campaign, which saw titles from across the group unite to highlight a lack of support for ex-service personnel experiencing post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression.

The Government had been accused of turning a blind eye to the issue, with the campaign revealing that the UK did not monitor the number of veterans taking their lives, unlike allies such as the USA, Canada and Australia.

A series of hard-hitting articles and personal testimonies from veterans and their families ran in titles including i, Portsmouth daily The News, The Scotsman, the Belfast News Letter, Blackpool daily The Gazette and The Yorkshire Post throughout 2018 and 2019.

The Government subsequently announced a raft of improved support measures and a major study into veteran suicides, with charities crediting the JPIMedia investigation for prompting the changes.

Tim Robinson, group content development director at JPIMedia said: “We are really grateful to receive this award, it’s a vindication of the all the hard work put in by our investigations reporting team.

“Mental health issues among military veterans are not given the attention they deserve and the hidden epidemic of suicides in this community is a national scandal which demands to be recognised and tackled.

“We are very grateful to Mind, and most importantly, to the ex-servicemen and their families who shared their many painful stories with our reporters in the course of this investigation — stories which had deep emotional resonance with our readers across the UK.

“It’s now over to the government to respond with commitment and action for ex-service personnel.”

Veterans’ charities have welcomed the national recognition for the JPIMedia campaign.

Dr Walter Busuttil, medical director at Combat Stress, said: “I would like to congratulate JPIMedia Investigations on their well-deserved Mind Media Award. Their investigation last year helped to convince the Government of the urgent need to launch a major study into veteran suicides.

“With this information, Combat Stress and other organisations will be better placed to help veterans and do all we can to prevent them taking their own lives.”

Annemarie Hastings, chief executive of Beyond the Battlefield, described Veterans in Crisis as a “vital and much-needed investigation”.

“Beyond the Battlefield have been lobbying the Government for some eight years now as to the real issues and life stories that veterans present with. The Veterans in Crisis campaign raised amazing public awareness across many communities,” she said.

“We needed the real and honest stories to be told at last.”

Radio 1 DJ Greg James hosted the star-studded awards ceremony at London’s Southbank Centre on Wednesday evening.

Other winners included actor David Harewood, who opened up about his mental health in BBC documentary Psychosis and Me, and ITV’s Lorraine Kelly for her taboo-breaking Shine a Light campaign.

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