P
pagan
Do not use. Also do not use ‘heathen’, ‘the lost’, ‘the unreached.’
partner names
Use a singular verb with partner names. So: The Leprosy Mission’s partner partner Kaveri Kala Manram is working… and KKM is… You would then continue with They are… or Staff have…
Use capitals for partner initials when they can’t be pronounced as a word. If it can be pronounced as a word, use just an initial capital. See acronyms.
Where the partner organisation has an established and recognised house style for its name, follow that and disregard above guidance.
passive/active
Avoid the passive where at all possible. Experts have discovered… is better than It has been discovered that…
pastor
Use church leader unless referring to a specific person whose job title is pastor.
peacekeeper, peacekeeping, peacebuilding
No hyphen.
People affected by leprosy
The recognised way to refer to someone who has the disease or has been successfully treated for leprosy. Where someone is receiving treatment in hospital or at a clinic, leprosy patient can be used. Never use ‘PAL’.
We never use the word ‘leper’. This is an extremely offensive term. The only acceptable usage is when referring to the history of the charity e.g. The Mission to Lepers was renamed as The Leprosy Mission in 1965.
photo credits
Credits for photos taken by external photographers should be as follows: Photo © Stuart Towell. Photos taken by TLM staff do not need to be credited.
Credits for photos on Facebook and Twitter can be added to the image itself. For Instagram, use the style as above. If the photographer has an Instagram profile, tag the account as part of the credits, e.g. Photo © [instagram handle].
For external publications or press releases, the style should be: Photo: Stuart Towell/The Leprosy Mission.
For films done by external filmmaker, the credits should be:
- Filmed by Stuart Towell, when the footage and editing were done by the same person
- Footage by Stuart Towell - when an external filmmaker took the footage, but the film was edited in house
pm/am
No dots or spaces, e.g. 6:00pm.
poor, the
Don’t talk about ‘the poor’ unless you’re quoting the Bible.
Use people living in poverty or people in need wherever possible.
Don’t label countries as poor unless you are basing your copy on a stat. Use low-income countries/communities.
population
Use a singular verb.
Yes: The local population has fled the area.
No: The local population have fled the area.
Yes: Half the population is under 30 years old.
No: Half the population are under 30 years old.
possessives/names ending in an ‘s’
If a word ends with an ‘s’ sound, add an ‘s’. If it ends with a ‘z’ sound, don’t.
Exceptions: Jesus’ name or St James’s (the park/area in London). Let spoken English be your guide.
president/President
Use capitals if you’re including the surname or if you’re referring to a specific politician. So: President Biden, the President is due to arrive later this afternoon.
Only use lower-case if you’re talking about more than one president or the role of the president. E.g. She was elected president in 2005.
prosthetic
A prosthetic limb or prosthesis, not a fake/artificial limb.
province/region/state
Avoid saying the equivalent of Whittlesey Town. Say Sindh Province or the Province of Sindh if it’s known as that. Say the province of Sindh (lower case p) if it’s just known as Sindh and you want to inform the reader that Sindh is a province.
Check on Google or with the country representative.
P.S./postscript
Capitalised with full stops. One space before the main copy, and start the sentence with a capital as usual e.g. P.S. Don’t forget, places are limited so RSVP today if you can.
pseudonyms
The people we support are asked at the time of interview whether they would like to use their real name. If not, they choose their own pseudonym and this will be recorded on ResourceSpace.
Never give someone a pseudonym if they have not asked for one.
If they have asked for one, make sure you always use it.
publication names
In running copy, use italics and capitalise first letters apart from on transition words, e.g. readers of The Guardian…, The Daily Mail is one of the most popular newspapers.
See italics.