Atherstone Man About The House: My pride in community spirit and the people's love of their town

Welcome to my first Man About The House column for the new Atherstone Nub News.

After meeting with the editor Nick Hudson, I was keen to get involved where I could.

It is great to be able to make a small contribution to an exciting new initiative which places Atherstone at its heart.

Since my election in 2015, I have been struck by just how proud Atherstone's residents are of their town and the community spirit which is regularly displayed, and

I am pleased that the Nub News will highlight this great, unique character.

Nothing has demonstrated this community spirit like the support of the town for the Adders in their fantastic FA Vase run this season.

It has been great to get down to Sheepy Road and see an unprecedented number of good-spirited local fans cheering the team on.

Unfortunately, their cup run came to an end on Saturday, however the team have shown their strength and brilliance in defeating teams several leagues above their own and came just two games short of a trip to Wembley.

Off the pitch, I am more than aware of all the groundkeepers and volunteers who work tirelessly behind-the-scenes to support the squad and to provide the town with this brilliant community team.

I wish the team the very best of luck with the rest of the season and look forward to cheering them on again in the near future.

Finally, it is important to provide an update on the coronavirus situation. As I am sure many of you are aware, it has now been confirmed that Atherstone does have a case of coronavirus. I would like to take this opportunity to reassure readers that both the Government and the local authorities are continuing to work to contain the spread of covid-19, however preparations are well underway to escalate the response to which is likely to include measures to increase social-distancing to quell the spread of the virus. More than ever, it is important to be savvy in our use of news sources for updates on the outbreak. For the most accurate and up-to-date information stream, I would encourage readers to regularly check the Public Health England website for medical advice and updates on the spread of the virus. It is always important to be discerning in our use of social media as a news resource, but never more so than with regard to the coronavirus to ensure you are getting the current, correct and most useful and information available. Craig Tracey

North Warwickshire MP

Footnote: Craig Tracey's column is the first of the 'Voice of Athersone and district'. Nub News wants to give an opportunity to all sections of the community – whether political, spiritual, business, sporting, recreational or connected with voluntary organisations – on our new news platform. If you would like to have your say, drop editor Nick Hudson an email on [email protected] offering your insight into community life.