Columnist of the Year!

11 December, 2022 | By Jean van den Elsen

Ingrid's blog was entered for the prestigious British Society of Magazine Editors 2022 awards by the Nursing Times and at the beginning of November we received the fantastic news that she had been shortlisted for the award in the category Columnist of the Year (B2B)!

She was up against four other finalists and I was invited to attend the award ceremony on Tuesday the 29th of November at the glitzy Pan Pacific Hotel in London.

Steve Ford, editor of the Nursing Times

Britain's best editors, art directors and columnist gathered together in the Pan Pacific ballroom and I was joined by Nursing Times editor Steve Ford and Jennifer van Schoor with her partner Heath.

Jennifer had won the B2B Cover of the Year category two years in a row and also reached the final for this year's award in the same category.

Jennifer van Schoor and Peter Heath

The awards were presented by actor and comedian Stephen Mangan and BSME chair Tim Pollard.

When the Columnist of the Year category came up the nerves started to kick in...........

.........they read the shortlist

Hilary Lamb (E&T)

Vital Vitaliev (E&T)

Helen Edwards (Marketing Week), Mark Ritson (Marketing Week) and Ingrid Fuchs (Nursing Times)

....then Stephen Mangan opened the golden envelope....................

....and the winner is.........................

INGRID FUCHS!

What an emotional moment on an already memorable night to witness Ingrid win such a prestigious journalism award!!

The award was presented by Stephen Mangan, and it was an absolute honour to accept it on her behalf. Her receiving a standing ovation from the other finalists and winners (including Andrew Marr, who won the award in the Columnist of theYear Consumer category) moved me to tears.

The jury commented:

In a field that tends to be dominated by technology and marketing, this year's winner is someone completely different. Nurses deal with matters of life and death all the time, but it's something else when they're dealing with a terminal illness themselves. Out of this grim predicament came a column that was clear, candid, eye-opening and life-enhancing, and we're just sorry that Ingrid Fuchs didn't live to hear that she had won an award for it.

We're immensely proud of Ingrid winning this prestigious award, she would have been so chuffed.....

Jean van den Elsen

Images are courtesy of BSME