Published: Wednesday, 10th March, 2010 2:00pm

Tele nominated for press award

HUGE TURNOUT: Telegraph readers packed Greenock Town Hall for our knife conference in March last year.

THE Greenock Telegraph's anti-knife crime campaign has been nominated for a major newspaper industry award.

It was announced yesterday that our battle against blades has been shortlisted for Campaign of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.

The campaign is shortlisted against entries from four national newspapers in what is a hotly contested and hugely competitive category.

Our drive was sparked when we teamed up with bereaved dad John Muir in his demand for mandatory prison sentences for knife carriers.

And thousands of you stepped up to back the cause.

Wendy Metcalfe, editor of the Greenock Telegraph, said: "The Tele has been proud to fight relentlessly against knife crime and stand shoulder to shoulder with John ever since his son Damian was murdered in an attack which horrified this community.

"We are delighted with how much the campaign has already achieved and proud to be nominated for such a prestigious award.

"It is hard-earned recognition for our fight against a very serious problem.

"But the success of the campaign is in the way our loyal readers have been on board right from the start.

"Hundreds of you attended our Knife Crime Conference in Greenock Town Hall last March and showed how strongly you feel about this issue.

"We took your three key demands straight to the heart of the Scottish Government and within weeks one of them was delivered upon, when our schools became the first in the country to take part in a hard-hitting education drive against knives.

"And, as everyone can see from the launch of our Stop Knives Save Lives sticker scheme, we are not relenting in our fight to make Inverclyde's streets safer - the campaign is still alive and kicking."

The awards will be made at a ceremony next month.