Hospitals, soldiers and crime: A look back at 50 years of News Shopper campaigns

From crime to hospitals and fundraising to resignations, News Shopper has always fought for the rights and safety of its readers.

In 2002 we started raising awareness of the plight of children’s hospices and the challenges they face to stay afloat.

News Shopper launched an ambitious campaign which saw all 659 MPs contacted in a bid to engage politicians about the vital work of the hospices.

Countless other lives were saved the following year when News Shopper secured the resignation of Anne Marie Dean from her role as chief executive at Darent Valley Hospital.

Our year long campaign acted on behalf of bereaved relatives, desperate patients and demoralised staff.

We ran a number of devastating stories highlighting why she needed to go, and never wavered from our stance despite challenges including two Press Complaints Commission investigations, calls from MPs, blackmail of contacts and legal action.

The News Shopper called for her resignation after receiving reports from staff of her bullying tactics and incompetence.

We revealed how on one occasion, a pensioner spent 12 hours on a trolley on her 94th birthday.

In the same year the horrific story of how a gunman almost took the life of Abbey Wood teenager Tommy Morris sparked a campaign to tighten laws around airguns.

News Shopper was featured on Crimewatch and helped bring in new leads and calls about Tommy’s case.

We continued to pressure politicians to change the law so lives could be saved and eventually new legislation was passed.

David Blunkett singled out News Shopper’s efforts when he paid tribute to our air weapons campaign in the House of Commons.

He said: "News Shopper has a proud record of campaigning against the menace of guns in this community... we are going to raise the minimum age for owning an airgun - as the News Shopper has demanded - and make it an arrestable offence for anyone to have an airgun in a public place without reasonable excuse."

In 2002, we helped reopen an 18-year-old hit-and-run case to help bring Lorna Flunder’s killer to justice.

Chief reporter Linda Piper worked with Bexley Police to help uncover more than 100 new lines of inquiry into the Bexleyheath schoolgirl’s death. Editor Andrew Parkes helped raise a £5,000 reward to track down the driver and ran a door-to-door appeal for information.

It wasn’t long until a man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.

Throughout our reign as London and north Kent’s most enterprising weekly, we helped catch criminals. Perhaps the best example of this was Shop A Yob bingo in 2004.

Within two days, 73 of the 84 front-page-featured hoodlums were identified.

Readers responded with such enthusiasm to the special wrap, our phones were ringing off the hook while we even ran out of answerphone tape for the first time ever.

In recent years News Shopper has continued to fight for people right across the globe. Two years ago we bought smiles to hundreds of troops though Operation Shoebox.

Readers showed their love for British troops by loading up shoeboxes with sweets, magazines and toiletries so soldiers could enjoy a brighter Christmas morning.

Bexley councillors and members of the 14th Bromley Cubs and Beavers were just some of the readers who went the extra mile to reach out to soldiers as far away as Afghanistan.

Have any of our campaigns helped you in some way? Email hwood@london.newsquest.co.uk to share your story or call 01689 885721.