We are proud to serve our community with real news, written by real people. This trusted news helps to keep our readers connected and engaged. I am the Communities Champion for West Sussex, which means I cover all sorts of human interest stories. I was born and brought up in Surrey, and from a very young age, always said I wanted to be a journalist. Ignoring careers advisers who said it was virtually impossible to get into, I earned myself a place on an NCTJ course at Harlow and from there, won a job on the Worthing Herald in 1984. It feels like I have been at the paper ever since but in truth I have done a number of jobs in the industry, including sports editor at the Petersfield Post. Having spent most of my career as a sub editor, I went back to writing ten years ago. I love my role as Communities Champion, covering all the articles about people at the heart of our area. In my spare time, I love going out and about, exploring the countryside and visiting the many places of interest we are lucky to have nearby. I recently introduced a new series of West Sussex walks with photos and video to guide you, which has proved hugely popular.