THIS week we celebrate the unique way the Crediton Courier reaches all sections of the community as part of our focus on local life, part of Holding our Community Together campaign to raise awareness of the impact made by your local newspaper every week.

The lives of people living locally are central to our news, with their highs and lows featured on our pages and on our website, just as we have reported on local events throughout our history.

Even when our community was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdowns, we have stayed true to our aim of reporting on what matters to our community.

We hold a unique place in local life by reporting on the everyday stories which social media and other digital news providers do not document.

Continuing our approach of being the news brand of record, we feature the clubs, groups, teams and individuals who combine to make our community.

TRUSTED LOCAL NEWS

This includes local youth groups, junior sports teams, volunteers, civic organisations and community figureheads like our mayors.

Nobody, we believe, understands our community like your trusted local news brand, so we continue to feature the community work of our public services, the police, fire service, NHS and teaching staff, as well as all those who work for our local authorities to make a difference to our region.

While our readers enjoy picking up their weekly Crediton Courier each week, or catching up on some of the stories on our website (www.creditoncourier.co.uk ), others also enjoy catching up on the news on our Facebook or Twitter pages.

For one section of the community it is a different matter.

WITH LITTLE OR NO SIGHT

Many people are not aware of the Crediton Talking Newspaper, which proves extremely valuable to those with little or no sight.

For several years the Crediton Talking Newspaper, read from stories published in the “Crediton Courier”, has been published weekly and dispatched to listeners who are blind or partially sighted on the day of publication.

The Lions Club of Crediton and friends have undertaken this work up until the present crisis, only missing one week, which was due to the weather.

Each Thursday several readers and technicians have got together to make sure this happens.

Keeping in touch is particularly important for the visually impaired who often have no other window on the world and many listeners have commented that having the local Talking News is like a friend dropping in.

PANDEMIC

At the height of the pandemic the Lions Club of Crediton and the Talking News couldn’t allow this to stop so the then Crediton Lions’ President Peter Bryan, with the help of Lion Karen Todd, sought means of continuing the service, albeit slightly delayed.

Recording and copying equipment were relocated from the regular studio and publication of the recorded information recommenced after less than a two-week gap.

All this would not be possible without the co-operation of the Royal Mail who collect the pouches for onward transmission to our listeners, now numbering more than 60.

In addition to the recording of the “Crediton Courier”, Crediton Lions include a range of downloaded magazines from RNIB newsagents, articles of interest to the partially sighted from Infosound and BBC In touch.

If there are any visually impaired readers anyone may know of or care for who could benefit from this service, please telephone Lion Eric Parkes on 01363 82878. He would love to hear from anyone and says it is easy for people to use.

EVERYDAY LIFE

The Crediton Courier has been serving this area since December 1974 and we believe nobody understands our community and shines a light on everyday life like us.

As part of the community, we hold a unique place in being able to document your lives, giving encouragement to those who give back and a voice to those who need help.

While the printed newspaper is integral to our service, we can use our website and other digital platforms to reach many more people, driving interest in the life in our community.

With our social media reach we are also able to engage with people far and wide about the work of people in our area.

The technology may change but our purpose remains the same. We want to celebrate the best of local life.

We hope you will continue to send in all the important news for our community to appear in your trusted weekly newspaper or on our website, as we play our part in the recovery from the pandemic.

Whether it is the latest fundraiser event for a good cause, a group of volunteers who have rolled their sleeves up to help or friends who want to place a memorial for a loved one now gone, we will continue to share your news.

Thank you for continuing to share your news through the Crediton Courier, holding our community together.

Alan Quick

Editor