The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) has awarded their highest Awards accolade, the Outstanding Contribution to Writing Award, to Mr Bates vs The Post Office screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes and writer and WGGB Treasurer Gail Renard

The recipients received their awards at the Garden Museum in Lambeth on Monday 13th January, presented by WGGB Chair Emma Reeves.

The prestigious annual Writers’ Guild Awards, which celebrate the best of British writing in TV, film, theatre, audio, books, poetry, comedy, animation and videogames, have taken regular breaks since they were launched by the trade union in 1961 and the current series of awards was paused in 2024 (read more here). This year’s Outstanding Contribution to Writing Award – uniquely granted by the WGGB’s elected governing body, the Executive Council – allows WGGB to continue to shine a spotlight on the importance of writers and writing, during this break. 

Gwyneth Hughes is a prolific and multi-award-winning television screenwriter, with more than 25 writing credits to her name. Hughes’ writing has often reflected real life stories and topics that have affected and garnered societal change, including Cherished, a film about the wrongful conviction of Angela Cannings; true crime miniseries Honour, about the investigation of a young girl murdered by her family for falling in love with the wrong man; Three Families, a dramatisation of true stories from families in Northern Ireland who were affected by its restrictive abortion laws before it was decriminalised; and most recently, the critically acclaimed series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, about the miscarriage of justice in which hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted. The series sparked such widespread outcry it prompted the government to announce plans to compensate and exonerate victims, introduce new legislation and launch a criminal investigation into the Post Office. 

Hughes has also been responsible for a number of compelling period dramas, including Vanity Fair, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dark Angel, The Girl and the recent adaptation of Tom Jones. Hughes is currently writing a new Agatha Christie adaption, Death Comes as the End. 

Hughes was previously recognised by WGGB, as a winner in 2008 and 2013 for her short form TV dramas Miss Austen Regrets and The Girl, respectively.  

WGGB Treasurer Gail Renard is a BAFTA award-winning writer, performer and producer. Her work, spanning four decades includes various BBC, ITV and C4 comedy and children’s series, as well as books, films, radio and stage plays, with credits including The Famous Five, Pipkins, ChuckleVision, Custer’s Last Stand Up, Get Up Stand Up, and Monty & Co.

Renard’s writing career started at the age of 16 when she snuck into John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s famous ‘Bed-In for Peace’ protest to get an interview for her school newspaper, where she was invited to spend eight days with the pair to help. She wrote about her experiences in the book John Lennon: Give Me A Chance, which is currently being developed as a film. 

Renard’s love of writing and activism was born out of that experience, and she joined WGGB in 1998. She has held various elected positions within the union since, including Television Chair, Deputy Chair, Chair and her current position as Treasurer. Through her tenure, Renard has been vocal in her support of writers and has been central to negotiating, campaigning and lobbying for better pay and conditions for writers, regularly attending Parliament and the European Parliament on behalf of WGGB. In addition to her work with the union, Renard is a director of the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe.

The Outstanding Contribution awards honour Hughes and Renard for both their body of work and the mark that their activism has made. 

On receiving her Outstanding Contribution award, Gwyneth Hughes said: “I’m thrilled to receive this award for Outstanding Contribution to Writing. I imagine most writers feel we are slogging away in our garrets unloved and misunderstood! It’s fabulous to feel the hard work is appreciated. The challenge of the empty white page is only properly understood by other writers, which makes this award really precious. But it’s also a tribute to all the wonderful people who have shared their stories with me down the years, and on whose behalf I’m excited to accept.”  

On receiving her Outstanding Contribution award, Gail Renard said: “Winning the Outstanding Contribution to Writing Award means the world to me, because it comes from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. I’ve been a member for many years, and I know of its importance to writers. Without our union, we’d be paid peanuts for our work… and that’s if we were lucky.” She added: “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer. But for most of my working life, especially in comedy, I’ve been the only woman in the room. It means you have to work that much harder to make your voice heard. It’s also why I’ve served as Chair, and now Treasurer of the Guild. The WGGB always makes sure that all writers’ voices are heard.”

WGGB President Sandi Toksvig said: “Congratulations to our Outstanding Contribution to Writing recipients, Gwyneth Hughes and Gail Renard. Both are extraordinary writers who have demonstrated the power of writing, the power of storytelling, of giving voice to the voiceless, and the importance of supporting and protecting writers and their work.”

Hughes and Renard join an illustrious list of previous Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Outstanding Contribution to Writing Awards recipients, including David Edgar, Jack Thorne, Heidi Thomas, Kay Mellor, John Finnemore, Russell T Davies and Caryl Churchill.

Picture by Matt Writtle: l - r: Gail Renard, Emma Reeves, Gwyneth Hughes.