MIKE HILL: Knitters’ post box covid safety message really is ‘first class’

One thing is for sure; it should have been a 1945 moment - a fork in the road - a budget to build back better from the biggest national crisis in modern history. How I wish it were so.

As the sun shone gloriously over the weekend and we moved into springtime the fabulous Heugh Yarners once again brightened up our lives with their famous yarn bombing. These surreptitious sisters have been cheering us up for years with their knitted street art and positive messaging and, in the thick of the pandemic, they’ve excelled themselves. Their work has appeared all over the patch, but my particular favourite is the lovingly made cover placed on the post-box on Catcote Road near the Fens shops; decorated with a bee among flowers and the poignant message ‘Stay Safe.’

Their outlook on life is typical Hartlepool and that was echoed in a conversation I had earlier this week with Frances Connolly, the EuroMillions lottery winner who has never forgotten her roots and whose charity gives so much back to the Town. In a week where, yet again, another bleak story emerged in the press labelling us the fifth most unhealthy place in the country (based on 3 year old data), Frances remarked that the people of Hartlepool are so resilient and positive and will bounce back from anything that strikes them. I agree one hundred percent and as we emerge from COVID we must build upon that. Our people have suffered enough. Now is our time to shine.

We have to remain vigilant. It’s great to see so many people vaccinated and equally understandable that so many people were tempted by the warm weather to visit Seaton at the weekend, but we are not out of the woods yet and a killer is still amongst us. So, stay at home where you can, protect our NHS and continue to save lives.

Yesterday’s budget announcement by the Chancellor will undoubtedly have set the cat among the pigeons in some quarters, and it will take some time for folk to fully absorb how exactly the Chancellor’s measures will impact on their everyday lives. One thing is for sure; it should have been a 1945 moment - a fork in the road - a budget to build back better from the biggest national crisis in modern history. How I wish it were so.

As the sun shone gloriously over the weekend and we moved into springtime the fabulous Heugh Yarners once again brightened up our lives with their famous yarn bombing. These surreptitious sisters have been cheering us up for years with their knitted street art and positive messaging and, in the thick of the pandemic, they’ve excelled themselves. Their work has appeared all over the patch, but my particular favourite is the lovingly made cover placed on the post-box on Catcote Road near the Fens shops; decorated with a bee among flowers and the poignant message ‘Stay Safe.’

Their outlook on life is typical Hartlepool and that was echoed in a conversation I had earlier this week with Frances Connolly, the EuroMillions lottery winner who has never forgotten her roots and whose charity gives so much back to the Town. In a week where, yet again, another bleak story emerged in the press labelling us the fifth most unhealthy place in the country (based on 3 year old data), Frances remarked that the people of Hartlepool are so resilient and positive and will bounce back from anything that strikes them. I agree one hundred percent and as we emerge from COVID we must build upon that. Our people have suffered enough. Now is our time to shine.

We have to remain vigilant. It’s great to see so many people vaccinated and equally understandable that so many people were tempted by the warm weather to visit Seaton at the weekend, but we are not out of the woods yet and a killer is still amongst us. So, stay at home where you can, protect our NHS and continue to save lives.