Reasons to be cheerful across East Sussex today

I recall few of the words. It was never a favourite at the time. But I suspect, like me, horrifically depressed by the current lockdown, we are all looking for reasons to be cheerful.

Well there are plenty of them when you look up. Today, blue skies and a burst of spring through the window as I pulled the curtain back.

So much good going on as well. Lots of people trying to support one another and their community. Laughter, too. Dark humour.

We’ve not stockpiled toilet rolls. But we have lots of copies of this newspaper. The family is already engaged in cutting last week’s edition into squares and tying them with string. Wartime spirit.

For hundreds of years newspapers have been an integral part of British life.

It’s not just that they are a source of trusted news and information – important though that is.

It’s more that everyone who works on them does so with sheer passion and a profound belief that they are more than just ink and paper.

At this time, with so many people on their own unable to go out, a newspaper can be a true friend. Familiar, honest, powerful, informative – and funny.

Papers and great journalism should lift the spirits.

So today I make two pleas to you, as your editor. The first, is please keep buying a copy – and not just for yourself but for neighbours, too.

These are precarious times. Our journalism – trained, professional, highly regulated – is funded by your purchase and by advertising.

That advertising, for understandable reasons, is this week evaporating like snow in a sudden heatwave. So we need you more than ever.

And with a team of journalists working from back rooms in their homes across Sussex, we hope too that you need us more than ever, too.

We will continue asking questions on your behalf. Holding those in power to account. Keeping you informed, entertained – with great reads. Bringing you local news updates on our websites.

But more than that, by giving you stories that bring our communities together.

So send us your photos and your news. Pretty scenics of Sussex when you go out on your once a day exercise. Humorous shots at home. Share your tips for getting through the lockdown – and your successes, no matter how modest in the current circumstances. Help us put a smile on everyone’s faces.

Remind us that we all have reasons to be cheerful today.

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