I have been the Newsletter Co-ordinator of the Merkinch News and Views since January 1997. Since then I have seen some great changes to both the newsletter and the community. The Newsletter has gone up to A4 from A5, with Merkinch Enterprise securing the best technology available to produce a quality newsletter befitting of the area.
As newsletter co-ordinator, I have spoken to more Merkinchers in and out of the area, than ever before. However, there is one point that is similar in all the people I have met, they care passionately about the Merkinch. Some may run the area down but they won’t stand for it if someone else does the same.
By the same token, I have met Merkinchers who haven’t been near the place for twenty years but still fervently consider themselves Merkinchers. I feel very privileged to have written the News and Views for so long and as a Merkincher myself, very proud to represent the Merkinch people.
When I applied for the job (I saw the advert in the News and Views, Nov. 96), I had an interest in writing but little in the way of formal qualifications. However, what was wanted was someone who can understand Merkinch at it’s roots and after submitting an article I got the job.
This was the first job I ever applied for where being from the Merkinch was an advantage, I have since gone from strength to strength, working at BLAST! a recreational drugs project in Church Street and also getting more involved in WOODY’s FAST FOODS a family business set up in the Longman Industrial Estate.
The Merkinch News and Views is an ideal way for a community to get to know each other, it is not just to inform you of community developments, or what bargains you can get in Grant Street. It is a way to express your opinions on the area, to the area. I will continue to occasionally write for the News and Views as should everybody in the Merkinch Community.