IT started with nine abandoned dogs, left helpless in the Hampshire countryside with filthy fur gluing their eyes shut.

Their plight shocked the world and sparked a Daily Echo initiative to raise more than £4,000 for their care.

Now our campaign has been nominated for a national award as part of Local Newspaper Week which starts today – and you can help us win.

Vote for Daily Echo's dumped dogs campaign in the Making a Difference award >>

The competition celebrates the regional media's vital role in society, from holding the powerful to account to helping track down criminals.

Voting opens today on the campaigns which have made a difference for communities across the country.

Of all the campaigns in the Daily Echo's 128-year history, Dumped Dogs was one of the most high-profile.

Our coverage reached millions during the episode in January last year.

The poodle crosses, a litter and their mother, were found on the rural outskirts of Winchester early one Tuesday morning.

Their matted fur had become so long and heavy it stopped some from seeing or standing. Motorists found them in fields and in the road, whimpering and staggering in circles.

One motorist thought they were sheep at first. Even vets were shocked by their condition.

When the Daily Echo broke the story there was an outpouring of sympathy never seen by local animal rescuers. Dozens of people called Winchester City Council offering homes, advice and encouragement while the dogs were sheared, cleaned and retrained.

Meanwhile readers and well-wishers across the globe donated £4,300 to our fund, providing crucial cash to keep them in care during the long rehabilitation.

It was a gruelling process, with two dogs suffering depression and fears that some may have to be put down. The RSPCA removed 94kg of fur, and that burden left one dog, Kate, with a curved spine.

More than a year on, the culprit has yet to be found but all nine poodles pulled through and have found loving new homes.

Andy Robbins, the RSPCA's head of press, said: "The RSPCA can only rescue and rehabilitate the tens of thousands of animals we help each year thanks to the kindness and generosity of the public.

"The response from the Echo's readers to help those poor poodles, who were in such a shocking state when they were found, was simply overwhelming.

"We want to take this opportunity to give our sincerest thanks to both the Echo and its readers for all that they have done to help."

But like much loved dogs, the Daily Echo's is for all year round.

Other major campaign success have been our fight for a clampdown on lethal legal highs, battled to save the closure of Southampton's child heart unit and in this Spring we lobbied chancellor George Osborne to help fund a new children's emergency unit in the city.

Say Yes George was victorious in securing £2 million of government cash towards a child-friendly emergency ward.

Daily Echo:

Launched with Southampton General Hospital, local MPs and the charity run by celebrities Sarah Parish and James Murray, The Murray Parish Trust, the drive was rewarded in March when Mr Osborne unveiled his budget.

Currrently we are teaming up with the NHS in a bid to cut the thousands of missed medical appointments in Southampton.

The Turn Up or Tell 'Em campaign urges patients to inform their doctor if they can't make their allotted slots.

More than 6,000 GP appointments are missed in Southampton every month, heaping even more pressure on the health service and costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Surgeries and patients across the city have backed the campaign, which highlights the easy ways to cancel and shows how sick patients are being forced to wait for weeks to see a doctor when they could fill cancelled slots.

It follows a similar drive to reduce missed appointments at Hampshire's hospitals, costing the health service £6.1 million a year.

Local Newspaper Week was launched to recognise campaigns like these.

Celebrities like Ray Mears and Great British Bake Off star Nadiya Jamir Hussain are among this year's advocates.

Our latest recognition comes hot on the heels of a trio of Echo nominations at the Regional Newspapers Awards.

The Daily Echo is up for Regional Newspaper of the Year, Website of the Year and Photographer of the Year for chief photographer Stuart Martin.

Meanwhile, the our sister paper the Hampshire Chronicle was last week crowned Local Publisher of the Year at the NFRN Southern Region Awards.

Ian Murray, editor-in-chief of the Southern Daily Echo and Hampshire Chronicle, said: "Local newspapers have been at the heart of communities for generations – and none more so than our papers in Hampshire.

"Our industry recognition is testament to that, but what matters most is you, our readers. You are the ones who raised thousands for these poor animals, and that's why we're asking you to go and vote for the Dumped Dogs campaign."

Readers can vote in the Making a Difference awards from today at localnewspaperweek.co.uk.

The winner will be announced by News Media Association chairman Ashley Highfield at the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards on Friday.