A message from the editor, Janet Wilson

From the early days of print to now ensuring you have all today’s news and information at your fingertips on your mobile phone, we have transformed our newsrooms and we will continue to adapt and evolve our unrivalled service to meet your needs in our fast-paced digital world.

Our journalists have the very best contacts within our communities because they are part of the community.

That means that we are not only the first with news and sport, you can rest assured that every word is fair, accurate and most importantly in these difficult times - true.

Our reputation depends on this and has done for 167 years. But quality journalism costs money and so today we are calling on the support of our loyal readers to sustain this by subscribing to the wigantoday.net website.

Our new subscription is focused on helping you stay in the know and to have an enhanced and more enjoyable online experience. This means fewer advertisements and access to our newsletters.

It is through the financial support of our readers that we can continue to focus more on the news you want to read about and report more on the issues that matter to you. It means we can continue reporting on the important events of the day; focusing on those issues which impact on your lives, investigating, holding powers to account and making sure your voices are heard.

With the rise of unregulated content and inaccurate reporting through social media it is more important than ever that our regulated and trusted voice remains at the heart of the community.

I have lived in Wigan all my life and am extremely proud of our lovely town and its people. There is so much to love about our borough and we have some of the finest sports teams in the area. Whether you are a rugby or soccer fan, it doesn’t matter. We care passionately about our clubs, our wonderful green spaces, our rich history. But we also want what is best and we work hard together to fight for a better future for us all.

As the editor in Wigan, it brings me great pride to provide you with the news and I ask you to join us as we embark on this latest development in our journey together.

Thank you for your support.

Janet Wilson, Editor