Living The Local Dream In 2012

2012 is going to be a good year - we predict it at T&L.

We have had enough of gloomy prophecies from the national media and have decided that - provided we all pull together and support our local businesses and creative assets - this will be The Year of Being Positive.

We have much to look forward to locally in 2012. The London 2012 Olympics bring the cycle race straight to the heart of Kingston, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee features a fabulous river regatta, there’s a fantastic programme at local theatres plus our great traditional festivals and ceremonies - like May Merrie, Surbiton Festival, Kingston Carnival, IYAF, Festival of the Voice, the Readers’ Festival and the river celebrations - to look forward to. And then there’s our very own T&L Food & Drink Awards which we will be launching in April, to celebrate our wonderful local eateries.

At T&L in 2011 we welcomed on board Melanie Burgess and Craig Chambers to our team. Many of you will have met this dynamic duo by now. Lisa Gagliani from Kingston Chamber joined us as a regular columnist - we love her informative wit! We greeted newcomers John Lewis MD Jenny Tomley, KingstonFirst’s Ros Morgan, the Rose’s Robert O’Dowd and our new Mayor, Councillor Patrick Codd. We are looking forward to working with you all in 2012.

A New Year is always a good time to make plans - I resolutely will not call them resolutions! - and I am going to make a concerted effort to become more involved in supporting local arts and theatre. You can read my theatre blog at www.timeandleisure.co.uk/blog. If we all pick at least one named local concern to support, I reckon we’ve all got a good chance of thriving and surviving. And that’s what we are all about at Time & Leisure - loving local life, celebrating our area and supporting it wherever we can. Shop and live locally and we will all succeed.

Have a prosperous and positive 2012.

Sarah Hodgson is a regular at local theatres, and Editor-in-Chief at Time & Leisure Media Group.