Letter from the Editor: Help is still there when it's needed

Last Wednesday, we were sitting in the office debating whether or not we should go with a weather-related front page.

There were compelling reasons to do so given that the snow was already causing major disruption and travel headaches, but the counter argument was that, if there was a thaw overnight, we could end up looking foolish.

We needn’t have worried.

The weather has been virtually the only topic of conversation over the past few days and, as well as gracing last week’s headlines, dominated our pages this week.

But it’s not the snow itself that has given rise to the best stories, it’s been the actions of people throughout the community in helping others less fortunate than themselves.

We’ve heard dozens of heartwarming tales, from the neighbours who ensured a woman was able to visit her mum on her 90th birthday to the residents who supplied stranded motorists with food and drink, and are delighted to be able to have featured many of them.

There have been so many acts of kindness and compassion that it’s impossible to cover them all but we hope that, like us, you’ll be proud that when people need our support we can still be relied up on to provide it.

There have been many who have bemoaned the loss of our community spirit but, if the reaction to the coming of ‘the beast’ is anything to go by, it’s still alive and kicking,

As our front page heading this week said ‘We salute you!’.