Hi! My name’s Alex, and I’m the editor of In & Around Online.

This site went live on Wednesday, and before the week draws to a close, I’d just like to take a few minutes to reflect on what that means.

Each and every one of us has ‘something to say’, whether it be insight that we’d like to share, or an opinion to put out there, or something we’re proud of that we’d love to be able to shout about. I know from experience that it isn’t always easy to put some of those things into words, or to know how to go about sharing them.

In & Around Online is the platform to do just that.

Particularly in recent times, the North East can seem like the ‘forgotten’ region, but we want to change that. We want to give our region a voice, and we want you to be able to #HaveYourSay.

Getting to this point has been a lot of hard work, and I’d particularly like to thank everybody who has made a contribution so far. All of the people that I’ve spoken to since beginning this project have had so much insight and passion to share, and it’s a great feeling to finally be able to put that content out there for everybody to enjoy.

The likes of Dr Twist’s writeup of their fantastic traditional portrait business is a great read, as is Laura Tindall’s musings on Newcastle-based pianist Christopher Watson, and I’m especially privileged to be able to press the publish button on articles like Rebecca Scott’s explanation of why her involvement with the Alzheimer’s Society is so important.

Articles like these are a great reminder of the voices we have in the North East.

Having seen the first wave of content, I look forward to future contributions! Don’t forget, if you’d like to be a contributor yourself, visit the Write For Us page. Anybody at all can submit articles.

And so here’s to the future of In & Around! Ten years ago, we launched the magazine that would go on to become a Chester-le-Street institution, and this week we’ve set out on the second part of our journey. Are you coming with us?

Sincerely,
Alex Porritt
The Editor