Why we’re giving papers away to the lonely thanks to Barclays – James Mitchinson

Normal lines of communication – with friends, family and even neighbours – have been restricted or severed. The freedom to pop out to the local library perhaps, or to the hairdresser, has vanished into the breeze.

For people living alone, this may well turn out to be the hardest winter on record; certainly since the war, and it behoves all of us to help those for whom lockdown might as well be house arrest.

Those of us in the business of purveying information – journalists have key worker status – have a particular duty to do what we can to share what we know as widely as possible. That’s why I am particularly pleased today to be able to announce a new initiative that will place free copies of The Yorkshire Post in the hands of people who will benefit from them the most.

I’ll get to the details in a moment. But first, let me take you back eight months to the beginning of the first lockdown when the promise of spring gave way to the fear of something none of us had known nor had seen coming. At a stroke, adults abandoned their workplaces and children, their classrooms. Life went on after a fashion, but for many it went on in isolation.

It was obvious to all of us here at The Yorkshire Post that the provision of information – trustworthy, unsensationalised and, above all, locally relevant – had never been more important.

It was clear, too, that with rationalisation in the commercial radio industry and across many smaller independent newspapers, The Yorkshire Post is one of the few remaining channels to access that information – not least for readers who could not afford to have broadband on tap. Yet we, too, faced a challenge. Local advertisers, the bread and butter of a regional newspaper, quite rightly had to pull in their horns and adapt to a market in which their customers could no longer freely access their products and services.

It became quickly apparent, though, that it was not just businesses that were vulnerable to the pandemic; individuals and families were suffering, too. And we already knew, from our years of campaigning to combat the psychological affliction of loneliness among our older readers, of the debilitating effects of isolation.

So we imagined our business model on its head and struck up new partnerships with local authorities, faith groups, charities and philanthropic trusts in our communities, who helped us to identify people who were struggling even to afford the modest cost of their daily newspaper.

With the help of these organisations, our newspapers went into emergency parcels that included food and essentials. It was a source of immense personal pride that we were able to help so many people.

But as we move towards winter, the landscape of lockdown has changed again. Schools have remained open this time, but the regulations change and adapt continuously, and information – the right information – has become scarcer than ever. Not even the one and only Harry Gration is still there to impart it every evening.

In this new climate, local authorities are finding themselves no less strapped than businesses, and it was clear that isolated people needed our help. Your help.

So I am delighted to say that Barclays has taken up my invitation. It is a partnership born of our mutual desire to help the most needy, deserving and vulnerable in Yorkshire.

Here’s how it will work. Every weekday from next week, hundreds of copies of The Yorkshire Post will be distributed to people whose names have been given to us by community workers, charities and others in their neighbourhood. There will be no complicated forms to fill in. The distribution will be done sensitively, for not being able to afford a newspaper is a stigma in itself. But with the help of Barclays, we hope we will be able to go on doing this through the dark nights, beyond Christmas and into the new year.

In all, some 25,000 newspapers will find their way into the homes and hands of people who otherwise would have gone through lockdown with little contact with anyone else, and with nothing like the same level of information from local radio or television.

And let me remind you, immodestly, of the standard of coverage we’re talking about. The Yorkshire Post is officially, according to our peers, the best newspaper in the country at the moment, having been named Daily Newspaper of the Year in the Regional Press Awards this June. It followed the accolade from the industry’s audience measurement company, PAMCo, which named us the most trusted newspaper in Britain, for the first time in our history.

The Yorkshire Post is more than just a newspaper; we are Yorkshire’s National Newspaper. We take our responsibility to the people of Yorkshire seriously and we value more than is sometimes realised the relationships we have with our readers and their families.

I am grateful also to those people and organisations on the ground who are helping us identify those who need us most. You can help us do this, too – for let’s not forget, this isn’t a static group.

As the impact of lockdown continues, people are going to drop below the breadline, possibly without even wanting to tell anyone. Perhaps you know someone in such a situation. If so, a discreet email to my colleague, Simon Hackett at [email protected] will see that they do not fall below our radar. Thank you.

James Mitchinson is editor of The Yorkshire Post and editorial director of JPIMedia Yorkshire.

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