Charlie Jones

I'm a journalist and writer with 18 years' experience, currently working for the BBC website.

About Me

I have been a journalist for 18 years, the last 14 of which have been at the BBC. The Guardian Media Group sponsored me to study for a masters in print journalism at City University and after graduating I worked as a multimedia journalist at The Press Association (PA) in London and Manchester. After leaving PA to join the BBC, I worked for Newsround, BBC Breakfast and the Six and Ten O'Clock News before I started my current role as a senior journalist and team manager for the BBC website. I write online news and feature articles and also work as a news editor, sub editor and line manager. I was also a lecturer in journalism at the University of Essex until recently.

I live on the Essex/Suffolk border with my husband, two young children, a dog and chickens. I enjoy wild swimming, paddleboarding and singing in a community choir. I have run the London marathon twice, most recently in 2021, and in 2023 I volunteered as a tailwalker, supporting the back of the pack. I work part-time as a support worker for people with Down's syndrome through the charity Project 21.

Features

Explore a selection of my writing work below.

BBC News •

'Losing my legs changed my life for the better'

I think to myself, "you're not taking this away from me too". I channel that anger into making me run faster. He only served 13 months in prison and has never shown any real remorse, but I try not to think about him apart from that. It's a waste of energy and I try my best to stay positive.

Before the marathon, I decided to climb Snowdon and I scrambled up using my hands. When I got to the top, I had a cry and let all the emotion out. When I got to the bottom,
BBC News •

'I was mutilated at 16 but I won't let it define me'

I felt betrayed by my grandmother. She was the only person I loved and she had let this happen to me. I was made to lay down on the floor for a couple of hours for my bleeding to stop. I would have taken my own life if I had been left alone. After two days of being in that house, my grandmother took me to where she lived and I stayed there for some time, experiencing infections and multiple health concerns because of the cutting.

At the end of the
BBC News •

'Finding out I was autistic saved my life'

When I was 13, I had my first panic attack on a school trip. This was the start of panic consuming me. I had been anxious for a while, but until this point, I had done a good job of hiding it. I had tried so hard to fit in, pretending to be like everyone else, but my brain couldn't do it anymore. Almost overnight I changed from a child who teachers loved having in the classroom, to a child teachers had to battle with just to sit in class.
BBC News •

'I was a gambling addict who stole £1.3m and went to prison'

'I spent my way through all the money we had'

I was chasing losses which you know you shouldn't do. But when you're in that moment, you do it anyway. That was around 2007. My family then became aware of the problem. My partner and I were buying our first home but I had gambled away the deposit. My parents helped me and I promised never to gamble again. I went seven years from then without having a bet, not even buying a lottery ticket.

By now I was betting on anything that I could, from the nu
BBC News •

Vogue model Ellie Goldstein: 'Doctors said I wouldn't walk or talk'

Ellie recently bought her own home with the proceeds from her modelling but we don't know if she will ever be able to live alone. We are living alongside her for now, though we have kept our family home, and we are trying to encourage her to be more independent but she is still very vulnerable.

When I did the Vogue shoot, I didn't know if my photo was going to be on the cover. My favourite teachers were there when I found out, I was at college, and I was crying and screaming. My friends said "w
BBC News •

Heartstopper's Bel Priestley: 'I want to be a role model for other trans people'

'I have been bullied my whole life'

'I couldn't find anyone similar to me online'

'I want to play roles that get people talking'

Filming Heartstopper was one of the best experiences of my life. I feel so beyond lucky. I would like to have surgery one day to complete my transition, but I'm not in a rush. It is a huge operation and I am lucky in that I don't feel incredibly dysphoric - I can accept and live with my body as it is for now. For a lot of people, the surgery is the starting point fo
BBC News •

Charlie Mackesy: 'I was hiding in the toilet before I won my Oscar'

"I was overwhelmed. I would get letters from school children, from prisons and from doctors and nurses who are just so brave and they said the book was helping them through the pandemic. I keep them all in a file. I still look at them at night. Book sales are not important to me, but these letters mean everything."

"I had someone come up to me and say, 'I just want you to know that I decided to stay, I'm still here today because of this book'. Someone else told me I have given people licence to
BBC News •

Mortgage crisis: 'We can't pay an extra £1,400 a month'

"My husband and I both work and luckily we've got savings but we're going to have to really cut back and be really cautious. We just don't know when things are going to get better and we might have to consider selling our house in the future," she says.

"I got a letter saying my mortgage was going up from £289 to £1,150 a month," she says. "Now my mum is having to sell her house too and we are hoping to buy a house together in Norfolk because we can't afford anything in Hertfordshire.

"We don'
BBC News •

Instagram hackers defeated by kindness, businesswoman says

A woman who lost her Instagram account after being hacked said she was "so grateful" to thousands of strangers who have saved her small business.

"It has changed my life. It has kept my business going. It just goes to show that kindness can conquer all."

She launched her business Rose and Guy eight years ago and gradually built up followers, with 95% of her business coming through the social media site.

When hackers took over her account, she refused to give in to their demands for money and
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