Dear reader,

Thank you for picking up today’s copy of The Reading Chronicle.

Regardless of if you are a new or casual reader of the town’s biggest and best weekly newspaper or a loyal follower for decades, we hugely appreciate your support.

Covid-19 was, and continues to be, an incredibly challenging time for our industry, at a time when the need to report essential information has never been greater.

I’m proud that the residents of Reading continue to support us throughout, with thousands of you regularly picking up a copy of our latest print edition and a huge percentage of the local population visiting our 24/7 website at readingchronicle.co.uk

We are a small team of dedicated journalists who care deeply about the community and will continue to provide the news for decades more.

Following all of your support, it’s now time to give back and I am excited that readers today have the opportunity to win a series of great prizes:

x1 iPad 256Gb

x1 Nintendo Switch

x1 £150 Halford vouchers

x2 £100 Argos vouchers

x2 £100 Marks and Spencer vouchers

Over the next few weeks we will print a token in the newspaper, simply collect all of these tokens, attach them to the entry form in the newspaper, and correctly answer the question also on the form.

Please do get involved and enter (full details on page 28) – we wish you the best of luck!

Having been shortlisted two years running for a host of Regional Press Awards – including in the category of Weekly Newspaper of the Year – we pride ourselves in being the best there is and putting reader experience and value at the forefront.

And, in a world of constant communication, we are always keen to receive feedback – good and bad!

What would you like to see improved? How can we better reach people in your community?

Only this week we’ve launched a new 8-page Reading FC pull-out full of reports, reaction and pictures for all you die-hard Royals fans.

As Editor of this great title, along with other newspapers across Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, I have always had the motto of being your biggest cheerleader in the good times and a shoulder to cry on in the bad.

Throughout this week’s newspaper there’s examples of exactly that: from sensitively working with loved ones of the Forbury Gardens victims and Olly Stephens to tell their stories, to celebrating and highlighting the exceptional good news from near you.

We have, and always will have, your town covered in print and online.

Below, I have taken the opportunity to introduce some of the team. We cover a wide area from general news, politics, education, health, court & crime and more.

If you’ve got a story, we want to hear about it! Please get in touch.

Best wishes,

Andrew Colley

Group Editor, The Reading Chronicle