FIGURES TELL THEIR OWN STORY OF HOW THE AREA HAS RESPONDED TO 'YOUR TOWN IN YOUR POCKET' NEWS PLATFORM

TODAY the world honours one of Atherstone's most famous adopted daughters in a "shine a light" celebration to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth.

In another corner of Warwickshire's famous hatting town, the digital bells will be ringing out for another set of landmark numbers.

Yes, Tuesday May 12, 2020 sees the first 100 days of your number one news platform – the Atherstone Nub News.

We've been together now just over three months but it feels like we've been by your side forever.

And today take a moment to step outside the coronavirus bubble that has enveloped us for as long as we have been in existence – and take a bow.

For you have been part of a success story which has swept the press industry planet faster than Usain Bolt can ties his laces before burning up his sprint race rivals.

Atherstone Nub News arrived unannounced at the beginning of February promising to reach the parts others couldn't – and hadn't – for a very long time.

We said we would be 'your town in your pocket' and we'd get to the heart of a town and surrounds that ooze honesty and wholehearted community spirit.

Nub News was hardly out of the blocks before Covid-19 descended on North Warwickshire and the rest of the globe to force the Government to impose the most draconian peacetime measures in centuries.

But we're winning through – even though the staple diet of news and sport has been a little one dimensional of late.

Covid-19 hasn't stopped Atherstone and district coming together and neither has it halted your interest in Nub News.

The initial warm welcome has become a glowing testimonial of mutual regard as we have – through your help and support – become the town's No 1 news service.

And a month ago the Atherstone Herald blamed a "coronavirus-induced slump in advertising" for ending its century-and-a-half association as the town's print bible by dropping the 'Atherstone' in its title and asking you to carry on supporting a Tamworth Herald with the promise of Atherstone stories in it – ending 200 years of the town having a proper newspaper to call its own.

That decision saddened everyone at Nub News – and at the same time made us redouble our determination to give you what we are offering every town where we have a news media platform.

But 100 days into our journey, figures show your commitment and increasing loyalty to our brand of journalism is heartening.

Facebook likes have soared past the 1,000 mark and now stand in excess of 1,300 followers.

More than 43,500 unique users – four times the town's population –– have read our 366 articles and our page views passed 100,000 last month and are now edging ever closer to 150,000.

Atherstone's new website is part of a nationwide group – started 15 months ago – which covers the four corners of England and South Wales. It has web titles in Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, South Wales, Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Essex and south west London

Group CEO Karl Hancock has featured in the trade press pointing out the group's "impressive early results including in the Warwickshire town of Atherstone, with a 'regular' audience equivalent to almost 90 per cent of its population".

Mr Hancock claims to be in pursuit of "what the local newspaper was 25 years ago, but on the internet. We want to be in the heart of every town and city in the UK. We want to provide everything that a town wants and get the community talking. We want to make local news easily accessible on all devices, particularly mobile, without intrusive pop-up advertising, enforced surveys or clickbait. We will ensure our content remains truly local."

He is talking about re-creating a world where news providers are at the centre of local communities and "giving an identity back to towns… and supporting local businesses and charities…"

Nub News is initially targeting smaller towns whose residents may feel neglected by local newspapers that are now published (either in print or digitally) from distant offices consolidated in larger towns.

The Nub News group passed another two milestones in the last week – 1.5 million users FIVE million page views

We can't thank you enough for viewing our new site – especially after being starved of real news about YOUR area for years.

We couldn't have put it better than Denise Mdbloomer who commented: "I have to say how much I value your local news.

"You know and care for the community, reporting real local stories.

"As well as that, you take bigger, national stories and explain what that means to Atherstone. Love it!"

Today we broke a story on plans to have a Florence Nightingale Benevolent Fund to help families of those frontline health workers who have lost their lives to the virus.

We like bringing you real local stories about the people, places and businesses that make the area tick.

To celebrate, we have compiled our top 10 viewed stories since our launch.

If you missed any, you can see them here. If you saw them first time, then here's a reprise.

1) Atherstone's first coronavirus case

3) Son's plea to 'stay home' after death of 3x-3M worker Roy Allitt from Covid-19

5)Story behind the decision to stop 821-year-old event

7)Storm Dennis wreaks havoc in villages around Atherstone

9)Exclusive news of controversial plan to charge £40 for green bin collection service, later shelved by coronavirus