The Cambrian News campaign on waiting times for cancer waiting times has received national recognition.
The Cambrian News campaign on waiting times for cancer waiting times has received national recognition. (Cambrian News)

We take our journalism seriously at Cambrian News. And while we’re a small paper in what seems like a forgotten corner of Wales and the UK, we punch well above our weight. But we need your help and vote to punch even harder.

The Cambrian News has been shortlisted for the 2024 Making a Difference Award run by the News Media Association, with our series on cancer treatment waiting times displayed in a showcase of powerful national and local newspaper investigations and campaigns.

Running during the industry’s Journalism Matters campaign (28 October – 3 November), the Making a Difference public vote for the best local and national campaigns is now live until 5pm on Wednesday 30 October. The local and national winners will be announced later in the week.

Cambrian News Editor Mick O’Reilly said: “We would obviously encourage you vote. I’m thrilled that our work stands beside some of the heaviest hitters in British media - The Times, The Daily Mail, The Sunday Times. It would be nice to beat those guys but that’s a huge ask. I can only compare it to, for example, reaching the Sixth Round of the FA Cup.”

The Welsh government set a target that every patient diagnosed with cancer in Wales should start their treatment within 62 days of diagnosis. In response to this target being consistently missed, the Cambrian News launched its campaign, the Waiting Game.

Since October 2023, the Cambrian News searched for cancer patients who had been affected by delays and sought to tell their stories, putting names and faces to the thousands of people in the nation who were struggling with cancer.

The team reported on the worries and psychological and physical impacts of not beginning treatment within the government-mandated target period. They also spoke with public representatives about the failures of this system, which was underfunded and over-stretched and queried whether money alone was the issue.

““The Waiting Game campaign underscores the calibre of our work, underlines our dedication to our communities, and demonstrates the importance of local journalism in impacting people's lives at a very real level,” Mr O’Reilly said.