FIRST of all, I really should get this out of the way: a big thank you to all of you.

The fact that you are reading The Bolton News means that you are supporting local newspapers and here’s my chance to express my gratitiude for your support.

I have lived in Bolton all my life and so the local paper has always been part of my life and I hope it has been a large part of yours too.

For 143 years it has recorded news in the area and, just as importantly, allowed local people to express their opinons for all to see.

It’s that opportunity — giving communities a voice — that is the theme of this year’s Local Newspaper Week, which starts today.

We pride ourselves on the The Bolton News’ busy letters pages, which are a good barometer of local opinion and certainly contain some vigorous, healthy debate from all members of our community.

The Bolton News is a community newspaper and all this week we will be celebrating the local newspaper’s role and, in particular, what we have done — and are still doing — to make a difference locally.

No other media can provide the depth of news coverage for Bolton of The Bolton News. Only we have the resources to report courts, council, the health trust, business and education and it is vital that all these topics are covered by journalists in balanced, accurate reports.

And, although I would never claim that we get everything right, I can assure you that every day we aim to provide top quality local reports of stories and issues that no other local media can — or would even be interested in — covering.

If we, or other local newspapers up and down the country, did not exist, there would be a massive information vacuum.

There would be nowhere else to read objective reports about how your money is being spent locally by politicians and health managers; how well (or not) your local school is performing; whether someone has been convicted/sentenced for a local crime and many more issues too numerous to mention here.

As well as the newspaper in print, we also keep you up to date around the clock, as events happen on our website at theboltonnews.co.uk.

There you will find local news, a forum in which you can comment and engage in debate with other readers, information about local districts, as well as video reports.

The Bolton News is your local newspaper and I hope that the series of articles this week give some idea of how embedded in the community we are.

Please keep reading; without you there would be no newspaper.