IF you had told me at the beginning of this year I’d be working at the paper my grannie has bought since the dawn of time, I’d think you were probably not of sound mind.

But as many of my colleagues have put better than me, 2020 has been a strange old year.

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I arrived at the Glasgow Times in September this year – in the middle of one of the most challenging times for journalists around the world.

One of the first stories I covered for the paper still remains my favourite to this day. My editor had sent me over a tip about some planters in a West End park and how the council had demanded their removal.

I very quickly learned that you can’t take everything at face value in this job.

It turned out that a group of well-meaning parents helped their children build some planters to house a bee cafe and herb hotel in their local park, much to the dismay of other residents who had an issue with them being there.

Glasgow Times:

The atmosphere had become so toxic that the council had to call in mediators to deal with the situation.

As well as that, I had the opportunity to work on a series about how couples due to get married this year had been affected by restrictions. I spoke to great couples – all of whom had been affected by personal tragedy in some way. We even featured a same-sex couple as part of the splash which was great to see.

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I’ve also been covering stories about job losses across the hospitality industry and the impact these are having on employees as well as businesses who felt they had no other choice but to cut jobs.

It’s incredibly difficult to see how the sector will recover from the coronavirus pandemic and the various restrictions that have been placed on it over the past nine months.

When we start to return to a sense of normality though, I’m sure Glasgow’s pubs, clubs and restaurants won’t be long in finding their feet again.

There have also been some amazing fundraising efforts from charities, groups of mums and individuals. I think Glasgow has always been a very generous city, but throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we have really seen this come to a head.

My colleagues have been inundated with stories about how communities have pulled together to help people in need. One of these people was Phoebe McNeil who runs the Cabin Cafe in Dennistoun. With the help of some local businesses, she was able to restart her immensely popular free breakfasts for local schoolkids.

I’ve also been getting to grips with my patch covering the East End. I’ve reported on some of the issues blighting the community such as dog fouling, close cleaning, leaks and the Duke Street branch of the TSB closing down early next year.

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Perhaps the story that has impacted me most was one I covered about Glasgow Royal Infirmary porter Rab McMillan. He caught Covid-19 just one week after returning to work following a sickness absence after he had recovered from a quadruple heart bypass. Despite being at high risk of catching Covid-19 due to his health condition, he still felt he should go back to work.

This brought it home to me that people are putting their lives on the line every single day to get us through this pandemic.

The past few months at the Glasgow Times have shown me that people really do make Glasgow. It may not feel like it sometimes, but there is a real community spirit in Glasgow that is unlike anywhere else. Even Paisley. But don’t tell any of my fellow Buddies I said that.