A regional daily’s award-winning campaign to combat loneliness has earned more plaudits after being shortlisted for a prestigious national prize.

The Yorkshire Post won the Local Newspaper Week prize at this year’s Regional Press Awards for the campaign which had made the biggest difference to its community.

Now its Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic campaign has been nominated alongside some of the country’s biggest national newspapers in the Older People in the Media Awards.

Two reporters from the Johnston Press-owned daily will go up against journalists from The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Independent and Daily Telegraph for the top prize.

The Yorkshire Post reveals scale of loneliness across the county

Reporters Lindsay Pantry and Ben Barnett have been shortlisted in the Best Factual Newspaper or Magazine Article About Older People’s Issues category, alongside entries from AA Gill at The Sunday Times, Kate Hilpern at The Independent, Deborah Orr at The Guardian, Laura Thompson at the Daily Telegraph and more.

Nicola Furbisher, managing editor of The Yorkshire Post, said: “The Yorkshire Post has been determined to bring the plight of the lonely in the region to prominence.

“It has been rewarding to see how the people of Yorkshire and beyond have taken the campaign to their hearts and it’s fantastic to see the team’s hard work recognised in this way.

“We have made great strides in tackling this blight on our society but there is still a long way to, and we’re determined to keep driving the campaign forward.”

The awards aim to recognise and reward the best examples of media coverage concerning older people’s issues and are ran by the charity Independent Age

The YP is the only regional title to be shortlisted in the category, which last year was won by The Guardian Weekend for an investigation into woman left to starve after the care agency supporting her was shut down.

The full shortlist in the Best Factual Newspaper or Magazine Article About Older People’s Issues category is as follows:

• The Sunday Times: Life at 60, by AA Gill
• The Times Magazine: The Care-Home Funding Nightmare, by Gail Rolfe
• The Yorkshire Post: Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic Campaign, by Lindsay Pantry and Ben Barnett
• The Guardian: Clearing Out My Parents’ House for the Final Time Brought a Certain Serenity, by Deborah Orr
• The Guardian, Money: Ted Beales is so Ill He Can’t Swallow. But the NHS Won’t Pay for His Care, by Mark Beales
• The Independent, Section2: Golden Oldies, by Kate Hilpern
• The Daily Telegraph: A More Mature View of Growing Old, by Laura Thompson
• The Times: Who Will Look After You When You’re Old? by Alice Thomson