The Glasgow Times was recognised at the Scottish Press Awards on Wednesday night.

The paper was runner-up in the Local Campaign of the Year category for our Save our Venues Campaign, and former chief reporter, Norman Silvester, who now writes the weekly Glasgow Crimes Stories series looking back at some of the most famous and notorious crimes in the city, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award

Norman started working for the Glasgow Evening Times in 1987 and worked as a reporter, crime reporter then chief reporter until 1995, when he left to join the Sunday Mail where he worked for more than 20 years.

He said: “I was taken aback when I learned I was getting the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was a great honour. It doesn’t seem like 43 years ago since I started.

“I’m not giving up any time soon. I’ll continue with the Glasgow Times doing the crime series.”

Many of the crime stories which are narrated by Taggart star Alex Norton in the podcast were stories he worked on at the time in the 1980s and 1990s.

Norman said when he first sated work as a journalist in 1979, he was writing stories on a typewriter for the first eight years.

He said of bringing the stories of the past to life in the digital age: “It’s all about moving with the times. You have to move.”

The Save Our Venues campaign highlighted the community facilities including sports centres and libraries that were at risk when dozens did not reopen after the pandemic.

It sparked local and city-wide protests, galvanized community actions and helped ensure that libraries were reopened and sports centres saved.

Stewart Paterson, Glasgow Times political correspondent, who worked on the campaign, said: “Save our Venues was about giving local people a voice to tell the council how much they valued facilities like libraries.

“The campaign had city-wide support and the backing of politicians across parties in the city.”