AM very sorry to say but this will be the last Just Jane. Do not worry, I have not died. Or been sacked.
I have, however, made the very difficult decision to move on from Bolton News Towers and to another job.
I can honestly say that this was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make.
I genuinely think — and I know at least some of you must agree with me because you are our loyal readers — it is a brilliant newspaper.
And I have absolutely loved being its news editor.
Just look at our campaigns — Drive For Justice, Better Health For Bolton, Sign Up To Save Lives and Back On Track — and our fund-raising drives, which have raised tens of thousands for local good causes, with Bolton Hospice being the latest beneficiary.
I like to think we make sure we are right at the heart of things here in this fair town.
Not only that, but we have made sure we get right to the centre of the important stories here in Bolton, even if they are uncomfortable reading (they are no easier to write, I can assure you).
But that is only part of the reason I am very sad to be leaving the BN. I am not, originally, a Boltonian. I have mentioned several times that I hail from a little town up t’coast called Barrow-in-Furness.
However, in all my years here, the majority (sadly, I cannot say all — but, thankfully, these folk are definitely in the tiny minority) of people have made me feel so welcome.
So welcome, that I now think of Bolton as my adopted home.
I love this town, and its people, passionately.
There is a real community spirit here, something very rare these days, and you lot all genuinely care about each other.
Yes, fair enough, the town has got its problems. There are areas of poverty, often a lack of jobs and some of the hard realities also facing huge chunks of the country these days.
But what Bolton has that nowhere else on earth does is its people. The good, kind folk who populate this town.
And that is what I will miss the most.
Although I am glad to say, even though I am leaving the country’s best newspaper, I am not going far. so, if you see me, say hello.
And thanks for everything.
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