Madeleine Davies, the deputy news editor of Britain’s Church Timesnewspaper, has received an award from the Awareness Foundation for her reporting work. The Awareness Foundation was founded the Revd Nadim Nassar, a Syrian priest working in the Church of England, to “empower Christians everywhere to be a counter force of love and peace to the intolerance and mistrust that now prevail in so many of our communities, and to build understanding between the faiths.”
The award was presented to Madeleine Davies by the Countess of Wessex for “her extraordinary work in the Christian media; her great courage and integrity as a source of inspiration and encouragement to people of faith everywhere.”
“This was a lovely surprise,” she told ACNS. “The director of the Awareness Foundation, the Revd Nadim Nassar, has been a wonderful source of insight and commentary throughout my time at Church Times.
“I emphasised in my acceptance speech what a gift he is the Church of England, particularly through his tireless insistence that we must not put Syria in the ‘too complicated’ box, but support those affected by this terrible conflict, including those who are working for peace.”
Explaining the purpose of the awards, the Awareness Foundation’s chief executive Reem Issa said: “Each year, the Awareness Foundation presents their Awareness Award to a very small number of people whose work has contributed to religious understanding and community harmony around the world.”
Previous individual winners are the BBC’s Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, for his coverage of the Middle Eastern conflicts, Baroness Berridge for the promotion of religious freedom around the world, Sayed Yousif Al-Khoei OBE, for his work on inter faith relations and the defence of minorities. Organisational winners include Tearfund, United Christian Broadcasters and Open Doors.
The award was presented by Sophie, Countess of Wessex. The Countess is the wife of Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, and is the patron of the Awareness Foundation.
The Church Times has been reporting on the Church of England and the Anglican Communion since 1863; and is the world’s oldest Anglican newspaper. It is independent of the Church of England, and is published weekly by Christian charity Hymns Ancient & Modern.
