Meet challenges with community spirit

Hopefully the worst of the winter is now behind us and the blanket of snow that covered our region has thawed for another year.

This week, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the Government’s projected roadmap for the coming months as the country gradually prepares to come out of lockdown following the restrictions imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

For us all across Northumbria and beyond, who have found the past few months so difficult, it’s a ray of sunshine and something we can look towards.

But the battle to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is not over, and I’d like to thank the majority of people who continue to follow the restrictions that are ultimately in place to save lives.

From a policing perspective, it’s been a busy few weeks but I’m delighted to have seen some brilliant police work across our communities.

A great example of that was one of our newest PCs who saved a vulnerable woman’s life on just her sixth-ever shift.

The officer’s patience and compassion shone through as she was able to bring the woman – who was severely autistic – to safety.

Especially at this time, I hope there are things we can all take from that incident into our everyday lives.

The officer is at the beginning of her policing journey, while similarly we are all preparing to take our own tentative first steps towards an eventual return to what we hope to be some kind of normality.

But as we all embark on our respective journeys, it’s important to take an extra moment to show compassion, be kind, and look out for each other.

That’s something that I’ve seen time after time here across Sunderland and South Tyneside throughout my service – and we will no doubt need that community spirit and togetherness for the challenges that lay ahead.