This December, in the spirit of Christmas, good people across our area have shown a plethora of fantastic ways to help others and brighten our days.

We’ve had business owners, police and armed forces, charitable groups, individuals and more collecting presents to give to those less well off this festive season.

Kind-spirited folk have picked up the knitting needles for what must have been hours on end to make angels to spread around our towns, just to raise a smile from those that seen them.

People have made a real effort and gone to huge lengths to decorate their communities – skips turned into Santa’s sleigh, inflatable snowmen, beaming lights – to bring a little joy to those that pass by, and sometimes to make money for charity too.

Schools and pubs and neighbourhood shops have been feeding and welcoming people who otherwise may have nowhere to go or may not have had a Christmas dinner this year.

And we have done our best to share these inspiring stories with you – on our websites, our social platforms and in our newspapers. Christmas really is a time of goodwill and we have made every effort to put that front and centre of our coverage this December.

Now, as a business owner, there are many places online and off that you could choose to place your advertising and align your business.

Digital means so many opportunities for marketing but, as The Times’ revelations earlier this year about huge national brands seeing their adverts appear next to questionable material because of programmatic advertising demonstrate, it pays to choose carefully.

Our newsbrands are local and trusted – online and off - and our digital marketing experts are full of ideas and innovative tools to make sure your business gets the best results.

For more information don’t hesitate to contact Jennie McPherson for south-east London and north Kent (News Shopper) on 07850 262 837 or Emma Sallabanks for south-west London (south London Guardian, Surrey Comet, Richmond & Twickenham Times) on 0208 722 6452 who will be happy to discuss your digital media and marketing solutions.