Elliot Ryder

Elliot Ryder’s feature writing has had a huge impact on Liverpool journalism in the last 12 months and consistently cast fresh and compelling light on the city’s most challenging stories. His detailed work has gone beyond Merseyside’s perceived sense of self to reveal a different picture - one more honest, puzzling and even harrowing at times. His features required the full trust and confidence of communities that aren’t always quick to open their doors and hearts to the press, as well as the craft and skill to piece their complex stories together. The murder of two-year-old James Bulger in February 1993 was a crime that shocked the entire world. But what of Bootle, the area which is still haunted by the incident 30 years on? Retracing the steps walked by the three boys as James was led to his brutal death, Elliot’s feature on the anniversary of the murder revealed an area that is no closer to coming to terms with what happened. A story that few will talk about openly, such was its impact, Elliot’s ambitious work opened previously unexplored connections to the incident. His considerate but authoritative prose weaved together testimony of the public who helped make a breakthrough in the police investigation, those connected to family businesses that didn't recover, people who saw the place they call home battle unfair stigmas and even those who still wrestle with the possibility that they themselves could have come face to face with the horrifying abduction. Elliot’s work brought new, heartbreaking perspectives to this internationally known story. In recent years Liverpool has seen its anti-monarchy and anti-nationalist sentiments grow, but Union Jack flags still fly in parts of the city like Everton. It is here where the HQ of Liverpool’s Provincial Grand Orange Lodge remains. Once the strongest hub for the order outside of Northern Ireland, it is now considering its future. Building up trust over a significant period of time, Elliot was invited inside the HQ to meet those who remain at the centre of the controversial organisation to discuss its values, sectarianism and if it sees a place in modern Liverpool. The feature, which made a big impact in print and online, highlights a core part of the city's story that is often not widely discussed or platformed. When war broke out in Europe in February 2022, Liverpool was not home to a large Ukrainian population. This quickly changed following Russia’s invasion. Without an existing community or support network, the resettlement scheme in the city was not straightforward and saw many Ukrainian nationals displaced - first by Russian artillery, then again as they rebuilt lives in unfamiliar Merseyside surroundings. Elliot’s feature, a front page splash marking a year of the conflict, follows the stories of four Ukrainian refugees in Liverpool and those building a new community around them from scratch. Recalling their despair and hope, he drew deeply emotive sentiment from an international story, placing it in the heart of the city for local audiences to better understand.