One of The People’s longest serving writers, Rachael Bletchly, has left the paper after nine years to pursue a freelance career.
She was previously news editor of News Wise press agency in Oxfordshire and was news editor for the Oxford Journal.
Bletchly is leaving to freelance between Oxfordshire and London.
She began training at the Northampton Post Group in 1984 before working at news agency Ox and Bucks alongside Daily Mirror editor Richard Wallace and the Mail’s Fiona Barton.
She became news editor on the Oxford Journal Group’s free newspaper and later moved to The Sun where she was reporter and Millennium Dome correspondent for two years.
Bletchly joined The People under Neil Wallace in 1997 as chief reporter, and then became chief feature writer, features editor and agony aunt.
‘Personally, one of the things I have enjoyed at The People most has been the campaigning work I have been involved in,’she said.
‘Last year, we gave £50,000 in one go and another large amount. The People has long been renowned for being a campaigning paper.
‘I have worked with some incredibly dedicated and talented people here and I will be very sorry to leave them.”
People editor Mark Thomas said: ‘Rachael has been with us for over nine years and has been a great servant to the paper.
‘We wish her all the very best as a freelance and I look forward to working with Rachael in the future.”
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
