Sir Roger Bannister

 This year’s Journalists’ Charity fund-raising lunch is to be a spectacular salute to the Olympic and Paralympic Games and those who compete in them.

The date and venue have already been set: May 22 in the Riverside room at Savoy Place, next to the Savoy Hotel. Among supporters of the Charity providing sponsorship of the event will be Google and Camelot. 

Sir Ming Campbell MP

Among the guests of honour on the day will be Sir Menzies Campbell, MP, himself a former Olympian, who has agreed to make an address in praise of the Games and all competitors, and Tessa Jowell, MP, Shadow Minister for Sport and also for London. MC for the afternoon will be journalist Nick Ferrari, award-winning host of LBC’s weekday breakfast show. Journalists’ Charity council member Anna Botting – recent winner of the Royal Television Society’s Presenter of the Year award – will also be on hand to help the proceedings along.

David Bedford

Invitations to the lunch – organised with the assistance of the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations – have already been provisionally accepted by a host of former Olympians and Para -olympians, including Sir Roger Bannister, David Bedford, Duncan Goodhew, David Wilkie, Jonathan Edwards, Ray Stevens, Chris Baillieu and Adrian Moorhouse. The charity also anticipates a number of editors and senior sports journalists from press, TV and radio to be present.

Duncan Goodhew

This event is fully booked. For press enquires please contact katejmcmillan@aol.com (katejmcmillan null@null aol NULL.com)

Richard Ingrams

This year’s winner of the Journalists’ Charity’s Special Award, presented as part of the National Press Awards, is Richard Ingrams, editor of The Oldie and a former editor of Private Eye magazine. Richard has been a major figure in journalism since deciding that editing Private Eye might be preferable to pursuing a career as an actor.

He was co-founder of the satirical and investigative magazine with Christopher Booker, Paul Foot and Willie Rushton, who had all met at Shrewsbury School. Ingrams became editor of the Eye after Booker’s short tenure and remained so for 23 years. After relinquishing the editorship in 1986 to found and launch The Oldie magazine, he remained a key member of the team, writing jokes and remaining a director until his eventual departure at the end of last year. He was critical of the book which last year celebrated the magazine’s half-century – and not only because it spelled his name wrongly.

Like Private Eye, The Oldie, which celebrates its 20th birthday this year, continues to grow in stature and circulation, apparently impervious to the many wounding influences that have beset print journalism in recent years. Ingrams wrote a weekly column for The Observer and then, until last year, The Independent. He has twice been invited to choose his Desert Island Discs, where he was described as “one of the godfathers of contemporary British satire”, and on each occasion chose a piano-tuning manual as his book and a grand piano as his luxury. He is a talented church organist, an attribute ignored by The Daily Telegraph when describing him as “columnist, biographer, amateur historian, wit, publisher, scourge of the pseudo, and gadfly on the hide of the BBC”.

The award – within the gift of the Charity’s council and presented to an individual or body that has made an outstanding contribution to journalism and journalists in any way – was presented during the Press Awards dinner at the Lancaster Hotel, London, on March 20.

Sir Michael Parkinson, one of Britain’s best-loved broadcasters is to speak in Birmingham in the summer to raise funds for the Journalists’ Charity. He’s agreed to be this year’s celebrity guest at the charity’s annual  lunch on Friday 22^nd June.   The charity has been holding the lunch in Birmingham since 1993, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds. Previous speakers have included Sir Richard Branson, Sir Trevor MacDonald, Chris Tarrant, Jasper Carrott, Kate Adie and Greg Dyke.

Sir Michael started his working life aged 16 on local newspapers in Yorkshire before joining the Manchester Guardian and later the Daily Express. His early broadcasting career began as a current affairs producer at Granada Television. He has continued to work across print, radio and television winning international acclaim and countless awards across all media.  This year he achieves another milestone. Sir Michael said: “I am very much looking forward to speaking at the Journalists’ Charity lunch on 22^nd June as I am celebrating 60 years in journalism.”

Further details of venue and ticket prices will be announced shortly.

 “We have always managed to attract top quality speakers to our Birmingham lunch – and they don’t come any more popular than Sir Michael,” said the charity’s regional chairman Laurie Upshon. “We’re very grateful that he has agreed to be with us. It’s a great coup and I am confident that it will be sold out very quickly.”

For more details, contact

Laurie Upshon: (laurie@upshon.com (laurie null@null upshon NULL.com))

Steve Dann: (steve@fleetstreetconsulting.co.uk (steve null@null fleetstreetconsulting NULL.co NULL.uk))

Val Deeley: (val.deeley@orange.net (val NULL.deeley null@null orange NULL.net))

Huw Edwards, Laura Kuenssberg, David Meara, Sarah Montague, Michael White, Tracey Corrigan and Bill Hagerty

A grim year for journalism was hardly the most promising backdrop for the annual carol concert held by the Journalists’ Charity but readings from the works of Charles Dickens and Hilaire Belloc ensured a hearty, uplifting finale for the congregation at St Bride’s Church. News of the celebrations planned next February for the 2012 bicentennial of Dickens’ birth provided another optimistic note and an opportunity for the charity’s supporters to reflect on the author’s role in helping to encourage the formation of the original Newspaper Press Fund.

In his welcome to the journalists’ church, just off Fleet Street, the Venerable David Meara acknowledged that it had been “a difficult and challenging year for journalists.”  He said the carol service (held on 19 December 2011) offered a chance for friends and colleagues to remember those facing harsh times or whose lives were clouded by sickness or bereavement.

Venerable Canon David Meara

In thanking the sponsors, the communications consultancy Luther Pendragon for their continued support, the charity’s Chairman Bill Hagerty said that in “these difficult times” for the  country as well as the media industry, there was a greater need than ever for their charitable work and all the more reason to remember the inspiration which the author had provided. Dickens started to write novels after working as a parliamentary reporter; seven years after the publication of The Pickwick Papers in 1836, he published A Christmas Carol.

His output was hardly dented when he returned to journalism, briefly, as editor of The Daily News. “Throughout his working life he fought for social justice, propagating in novels – markedly Dombey and Son, but others too – education reform, sanitary measures, and slum clearance,” said Mr Hagerty. “We are not certain that he was among the group of parliamentary supporters who in 1864 met in a London pub – where else? – to set up a fund to help fellow journalists and their dependants who had fallen on hard times – but, as the newspaperman tells James Stewart’s character in The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance, ‘When the legend becomes fact, print the legend’. “We at the Journalists’ Charity continue to believe  that Dickens’ values in striving to help the less fortunate remain intact and a driving force for us almost 150 years after he was – or maybe wasn’t – in that pub where it all began.”

Bill Hagerty, Chairman Journalists' Charity

St Bride’s choir delighted the congregation, especially with their rendition of Donkey Carol (John Rutter) and the topicality of the readings struck the right note: Michael White of The  Guardian read an excerpt from The Pickwick Papers and Sarah Montague, presenter of the Today programme on Radio 4, read The Happy Journalist by Hilaire Belloc. Other readings were by Laura Kuenssberg, business editor at ITV, Tracey Corrigan, editor, Wall Street Journal Europe, and Huw Edwards, presenter of the BBC’s Ten O’clock News.

Nicholas Jones 20.12.2011

Mr Grieve echoed the ambassador’s sentiments. The work which British and Irish governments have done has transformed our relationship. One of the most exciting things we had was a degree of co-operation, common thinking which has become such a permanent part of our national life…and every time we come here we are among friends,” he said.  “Perhaps it is an example of the peace process and has coloured my view, perhaps, to a rapprochement between Attorney General and the press…but because of a large hiccup about an article in a magazine which shall remain nameless, my attempt a bridge building may be more difficult.

 “As I said on Monday (at the SoE conference) I will try again. I wish to endeavour to steer journalists to a path of virtue to write your copy and avoid being prosecuted by the Attorney General. I shall restate my main mission in life which is there is a way through the difficulties.” The Attorney General made a personal donation to the Charity.

The Embassy has hosted the annual reception since 2009 and Journalists’ Charity chairman, Bill Hagerty, praised the ambassador’s generous support over the years.

His Excellency Ambassador Bobby McDonagh addresses over 120 guests

Gareth Wynn (EDF), Laurie Upshon (Vice Chairman Journalists' Charity)

The Charity’s vice chairman Laurie Upshon receives a cheque for £500 from EDF’s Gareth Wynn at the London and  South Regional Media Awards ceremony held at Lord’s cricket ground. EDF sponsor the awards and are regular  contributors to the Charity. They are also one of the main sponsors of next  year’s  Olympic Games. Gareth is the company’s  London 2012 programme director.  A raffle at the lunch raised another £300.

The Journalists’ Charity raised nearly £3,000 at their annual Greyhound Racing Evening at Hall Green Stadium in Birmingham. The Charity’s Midlands’ district has been running the event for 33 consecutive years, making it one of the region’s oldest charity events. Despite the difficult financial times, the charity attracted strong support from corporate supporters and, in particular, from Heineken UK who sponsored the evening. “It is great to have such strong support in these times,” said the Charity’s Midlands chairman Laurie Upshon.

Laurie Upshon, Chairman West Midlands Journalists’ Charity, David Ilott, Journalists’ Charity Director, Steve Dann, Vice Chairman, Journaliss’t Charity, West Midlands, Bob Southgate, Committee Member West Midlands, Journalists’ Charity	Chris May, Robert May. Chris Matthews, Richard Matthews Midlands Secretary, British Beer & Pub Association
Ashleigh Fowler, Admiral Taverns, Steve Dann, Vice Chairman, West Midlands, Journalists’ Charity, Kellys Dunne, Anne Dann, Ceri Radford	Jo Fowler, Gerry Armes, Honorary President, Journalists’ Charity Midland District, Charles Stretton, Michele Orson, Ron Totney, Val Deeley, Midlands District Secretary

TREAT JOURNALISTS AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH WITH ‘RESPECT’, ROTHERMERE WARNS POLITICAL ELITE

Freedom of speech is being taken for granted and must be defended against threats from a ‘heavy handed political establishment’, Viscount Rothermere told the London Press Club Ball.  Politicians seeking to muzzle journalists and a free press should take care to ‘treat us with the respect we deserve,’ he said as he also fired the starting gun for the Journalists’ Charity’s 150^th anniversary friend- and fund-raising campaign.

Lord Rothermere, patron of this year’s London Press Club Ball and president of the Journalists’ Charity for which it was raising funds, used his short speech to mount a vigorous defence of freedom of expression and to hammer home the vital role of an unshackled media in a modern democracy.  Against the backdrop of the Leveson Inquiry into the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World, which is also examining the wider relationship between the media, police and politicians, he said the Press was ‘locked in horns with the political establishment’ and having to navigate ‘choppy waters’.  As a result, there had never been a more important time for journalists ‘to stand up, and remind everybody what it is that we are all actually here to do’, he told the audience of 400 senior journalists, editors and executives.

Lord Rothermere, chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust said: ‘Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, the support of a free, open and accountable democracy … these are all things that up to now this country has taken for granted.’  ‘But be warned, these are not values that survive simply due to the fact that they exist.  ‘These are values that only survive, like anything that is precious to us, if we look after them, if we value them and if we respect them.’

Speaking at the Ball in the Natural History Museum on Thursday October 13, he said: ’I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that currently we are locked in horns with the political establishment as to the pattern of our future… locked in horns with a political establishment whose daily heartbeat and consequent survival is sustained through the channels of communication that we provide.’

 His message to politicians was: ‘Be careful to treat us with the respect that we deserve.   ‘Don’t forget that more often than not, it is left to us, the press industry in this country, to stand up for people up and down this land against an often heavy-handed political establishment.’    He said UK has ‘the best journalists in the world’ and a journalism which is ‘the envy of the modern world’ but added: ’As we become embroiled in a debate regards the workings of our industry and its future, it is important that we all work together, we think together and we speak clearly with one voice – reminding people that they live in a country where freedom of expression is the defining aspect of our democracy.   ‘And whilst, like our political peers, we are not always perfect, what we stand for and provide is a way of life that for many people around the world could only ever be regarded as the unattainable dream.’

Among senior media figures present at the Ball to hear Lord Rothermere’s speech were Daily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre; executive director of the Telegraph Media Group, Lord Black of Brentwood; Independent on Sunday editor John Mullin; Press Association editor Jonathan Grun; and Society of Editors’ executive director Bob Satchwell, plus chairman Bill Hagerty and other trustees of the Journalists’ Charity.

Philippa Kennedy OBE, Press Ball chair

——–
A ‘CHARITY CHAMPION’ IN EVERY NEWSROOM TO DRIVE FRIEND- AND FUND-RAISING EFFORT, SAYS PRESIDENT

Open your contacts books AND your wallets.  A ‘champion’ in every newsroom must be recruited drive the Journalists’ Charity’s 150^th anniversary friend- and fund-raising campaign, said Lord Rothermere.  Speaking at the London Press Club Ball, he explained how five years ago he laid the foundation stone of the charity’s new £3million care home in Dorking – Pickering House – which was opened the following year by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Wessex.   But the Journalists’ Charity president added: ’Tonight I want to lay a foundation stone of a different kind: a foundation on which the charity can build extensively in the run up to the landmark 150th anniversary.   ‘And that is to help kick-start an ambitious new recruitment drive to significantly boost the number of active and subscribing supporters – let’s call them ‘friends’.

He said that to spearhead the major fund-raising and friend-raising initiative, the charity wanted to find a ‘charity champion’ in every newspaper, magazine, radio and TV newsroom, and every journalism association or society: ’These champions will provide a point of contact, spreading the word among all journalists everywhere  -in print, on air, online.’  He noted: ’We need signing up to the Journalists’ Charity to become second nature and a lifelong habit – from the moment the young embark on an exciting media career to when eventually they meet their final deadline.’

Lord Rothermere said: ’The 150th Anniversary action is about friend raising, not just fundraising. It’s about opening your contacts books – not just your wallets.’  Support for the charity in the drive towards its 150^th anniversary in 2014 was a way of proving ‘what a decent, open-hearted trade this is’.   Journalists should show their support by signing up immediately – or online ‘for as little as £1 a week ‘.

The charity now covers all those who are working, or have worked, in journalism – in print, on air and online – and their dependents, and spends more than £300,000 a year helping those and their families struck down by ill health, unemployment, infirmity or plain bad luck.  Lord Rothermere noted: ’At a time when more and more of our friends and colleagues are losing their jobs by the day, the Journalists’ Charity has truly come into its own.   ‘Trustees who sift the hundreds of requests for help each year tell me how deeply humbling it is to see a high-flying career brought low by an unexpected twist of fate.    One told me: ‘Every time we examine a case I think ‘There but for the grace of God go I’.’

Lord Rothermere addresses the London Press Club Ball

It’s an honour for me to be patron of this year’s London Press Club Ball, as well as being President of the Journalists’ Charity for which tonight it is raising funds. Now, before I go on to tell you of some of the progress that this great charity is making, I’d like to make a few comments about our industry and the relatively choppy waters through which we are having to navigate ourselves. To my mind, there has never been a more important time for us, for everyone in this room, and indeed for our colleagues and journalists around the country, to stand up, and remind everybody what it is that we are all actually here to do. Because freedom of speech, freedom of expression, the support of a free, open and accountable democracy …these are all things that up to now this country has taken for granted.

But be warned, these are not values that survive simply due to the fact that they exist. These are values that only survive, like anything that is precious to us, if we look after them, If we value them and if we respect them. And I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that currently we are locked in horns with the political establishment as to the pattern of our future. Locked in horns with a political establishment whose daily heartbeat and consequent survival is sustained through the channels of communication that we provide. And so I say to all of you here to tonight, and indeed to anyone else who is listening…be careful to treat us with the respect that we deserve. Don’t forget that more often than not, it is left to us, the press industry in this country, to stand up for people up and down this land against an often heavy-handed political establishment.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this country has the best journalists in the world. In fact not only do we have the best journalists in the world, but the quality of our journalism is the envy of the modern world. And I am in a good position to know this because in my capacity as chairman of the Daily Mail, I travel the world and hear it a lot.
So in the weeks and months to come, as we become embroiled in a debate regards the workings of our industry and its future, it is important that we all work together, we think together and we speak clearly with one voice – reminding people that they live in a country where freedom of expression is the defining aspect of our democracy. And whilst, like our political peers, we are not always perfect, what we stand for and provide is a way of life that for many people around the world could only ever be regarded as the unattainable dream.

So it’s for all these reasons that this charity we are all supporting tonight, is given all the best possible support we can muster. At a time when more and more of our friends and colleagues are losing their jobs by the day, the Journalists’ Charity has truly come into its own. The relatively recent change of name was to emphasise how the charity covers all those who are working, or have worked, in journalism – in print, on air and online – and their dependants. Today it spends more than £300,000 a year helping journalists and their families struck down by ill health, unemployment, infirmity or plain bad luck. Trustees who sift the hundreds of requests for help each year tell me how deeply humbling it is to see a high-flying career brought low by an unexpected twist of fate. One told me: ‘Every time we examine a case I think ‘There but for the grace of God go I’.’

Five years ago I was privileged to lay the foundation stone of the charity’s new £3million care home in Dorking – Pickering House – which was opened the following year by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Wessex. Tonight I want to lay a foundation stone of a different kind: a foundation on which the charity can build extensively in the run up to the landmark 150th anniversary. And that is to help kick-start an ambitious new recruitment drive to significantly boost the number of active and subscribing supporters – let’s call them ‘friends’. All of you here tonight can help by becoming a friend of the charity.

The Journalists’ Charity wants to spearhead a major fund-raising and friend-raising initiative by finding a ‘charity champion’ in every newspaper, magazine, radio and TV newsroom, and every journalism association or society. These champions will provide a point of contact, spreading the word among all journalists everywhere -in print, on air, online. We need signing up to the Journalists’ Charity to become second nature and a lifelong habit – from the moment the young embark on an exciting media career to when eventually they meet their final deadline. Over the coming months your Charity will be getting in touch to ask for your help – but that can start right now. For as little as a £1 a week you can sign-up tonight to be a friend of the charity. If not, do it online and please do it soon. The 150th Anniversary action is about friend raising, not just fundraising. It’s about opening your contacts books – not just your wallets. Tonight’s Ball brochure gives more details about how you can help prove what a decent, open-hearted trade this is.

We’re grateful for the generous support of you all tonight, the corporate sponsors and all those media companies and individual journalists who have bought tables and seats. Please bid high and bid often in the charity auction and support the super raffle by buying as many tickets as you can. Thank you. And enjoy your evening.

By Nicholas Jones

MPs and journalists were put in their place by a feisty panel of four life peers at the annual “cash for questions” evening held to raise funds for the Journalists’ Charity on Monday June 20.

Sky News presenter Anna Botting, who hosted the event, had a fistful of questions from the guests who crowded into a marquee on the terrace of the House of Commons for one of the most popular events in the charity’s social calendar. Continue reading “Journalists’ Charity Cash for Questions” »