It's Local Newspaper Week and who better to kick off celebrations than the very people who write the stories - the journalists.
Since the mid 1800s, reporters have been dedicated to delivering high quality news for our readers across our publications - the Surrey Advertiser, News & Mail, Surrey Mirror and Dorking/Leatherhead Advertiser.
Journalists may never forget writing a specific story for a number of reasons - whether it be live blogging a huge blaze as it engulfs acres of protected land or writing the devastating news of an entire family lost in a house fire.
To mark Local Newspaper Week, these are snapshots of the news stories that have resonated most with our journalists - written in their own words.
Isabel Dobinson - Guildford reporter
The best thing about working in local journalism is digging into human interest stories which have a real impact on the people you are responsible for delivering high quality news to.
For me, it is clear which story comes top of the list.
When I began covering Surrey County Council's finances in January I had no idea it was going to develop into an ongoing investigative project.
After hours of trolling through county council budget documents (and everyone in the newsroom knows maths is not my strong point!) and quizzing its leader in a rather intense interview, it became clear the real story behind the huge budget cuts were the families whose lives could be turned upside down as a consequence.
My first interview was with an amazing woman I am still in contact with. It wasn't until I met Alicia Hollow and her son Kian that I realised the scale of her campaign to reverse the £21 million budget cuts to services supporting disabled children.
Alicia successfully crowdfunded enough money to launch a judicial review into the £21 million budget cuts and today I was told law firm, Irwin Mitchell has made an application for the case to be heard in the High Court.
It didn't take long for one news story to develop into a series of interviews. As a result I went on to meet other amazing parents - Sarah Jones, who is the mother of adorable three-year-old Kyffin and Dean Allen, father of 15-year-old Jude are to name but a few.
I'm proud to have met and publicised the determination of these parents who are simply defending their disabled children's needs. I am also proud to follow their campaign until the final outcome.
Steve Lloyd - News & Mail reporter
The News & Mail first highlighted problems with parking at the Aldershot Centre For Health in summer 2016.
We reported that a spokesman for NHS North East Hampshire & Farnham Clinical Commissioning Group, based at the centre, wrote to NHS Property Services (NHSPS).
The letter said: "For some time now the limited parking capacity and the subsequent delays, tailbacks and traffic jams have been an issue at the site."
Three months later (Sept 2016) we reported visitors claiming the new charges for disabled blue badge holders were unfair and unclear after scores of drivers were hit with hefty fines of £100 – £60 if paid early.
But after just six weeks, NHSPS announced that blue badge holders would no longer be charged after reviewing the new system with parking manager Smart Parking.
We then reported how Aldershot's then MP, Sir Gerald Howarth, waded into the debate in December 2016 by calling for an overhaul of the system operated by Smart Parking.Now in May 2018 - nearly two years after we first raised fears - NHSPS has announced it has ended its contract with Smart Parking.
It follows a petition launched by Rushmoor Labour leader Alex Crawford, which gained more than 2,000 signatures and attracted hundreds of negative comments about the system.
NHSPS is now appointing a new car parking contractor and will invite patient, community and NHS representatives to help design a replacement system.
It shows that a local newspaper can highlight a clear wrong that affects a disadvantaged community and have a big influence on making things right.
André Langlois - Head of print
From week to week we cover the important news where people live.
It can be tragic or political or intriguing, and the local press is vital to hold the authorities to account.
Often the news can be heartwarming when we report the great things readers are doing in their community. It can also be fun.
We mustn't forget to surprise our readers and even, heaven forbid, make them laugh.
We recently had a story about a new pedestrian area of Guildford where the stone setts are multicoloured.
We designed a Surrey Advertiser front page to make it appear the workers were feeding the setts into a game of Tetris.
In September 2016 we marked 150 years since the birth of science fiction master HG Wells with a black-and-white splash reporting a Martian invasion.
Alien invaders lay waste to Woking, where the author lived for many years, in The War of the Worlds.
Down page we explained the splash with a report of the anniversary.
Below that we ran an advert for the new-fangled www.getsurrey.co.uk.
"OMG - it must be witchcraft!"
Beth Duffell - Executive/content editor
Every reporter loves breaking news.
Arriving at the scene and seeing how people react and watching a story unfold, it's the the unknown that really gives you that adrenaline rush.
Of course the majority of breaking news is not good news.
On Good Friday April 14 2017, I was scrolling though Twitter and someone had posted a short video of a major fire on Chobham Common.
I called photographer Grahame Larter, who was happy to swap his relaxing Friday evening to head to the common to cover the story.
We met in one of the main common car parks and could see the massive flames lapping away at the heathland, a real sorry sight before us.
The fire was quite far from the car park, so we walked for about a mile to reach the scene.Firefighters were busy tackling the blaze.
A couple of locals had headed to the common too to see for themselves what had happened.
What's interesting is how we cover breaking news now, compared to many years ago.
Technology means we can publish the news instantly and via a live blog on Get Surrey, run by our then-video editor Michael Pearson from his home, we updated readers throughout the night with images and video from the scene, plus ongoing updates from Surrey Fire and Rescue Service.
Grahame captured some incredible images of the fire as it devastated the heathland.
The way we cover news will always develop but we're lucky that technology means we can give readers as much information as we can, as quickly as possible.
Jenny Seymour - Reigate & Banstead reporter
Stories don't get much more harrowing than the news that broke early one morning in 2017 that an entire family had perished in a fire at their home.
After a lengthy investigation, police confirmed the fire had been started deliberately, but that they were not looking for anyone else in relation to it. So many questions remained.
When the inquest was held a year later, it was important we covered it. We were hoping to find out how a six year-old boy and his parents died in such tragic circumstances.
Inquests are held when a death is violent, unnatural or unexplained, or occurs in custody. A coroner is limited to focusing on key questions – who died, when and how - and their examinations are crucial
A good coroner will leave no stone unturned in getting to the truth.
An inquest also gives the families of those who have died the opportunity to question what happened, and it is vitally important that, where possible, lessons can be learned to prevent future deaths. That is also why it is so important for local news sites to go along and report the proceedings.
The inquest into the deaths of Tiago and Adriana Nunes, and their young son, also Tiago, was held at Woking Coroner’s Court. Our reporter took notes throughout – there’s still no substitute for pen, paper and shorthand. A colleague in the office ran a live blog, with updates coming from the hearing as it unfolded and each of the witnesses gave their evidence.
A blog doesn’t replace a 'normal’ story, so we wrote one after the hearing had finished, with the knowledge of all we had learned, but also of the questions that still remained.
Alex Brock - Elmbridge reporter
Last September, Sunbury unexpectedly became the centre of investigations into the Parsons Green terror attack.
After a dramatic police raid on Cavendish Road, 18-year-old Ahmed Hassan Mohammed Ali was later arrested in connection with the bomb plot.
Thirty people were injured in the terror attack.
The explosion sent a fireball rolling through the tube carriage and burned several passengers.
One survivor said she could smell herself burning while another reported seeing shards of glass flying through the air.
As a story of both national and local importance, it was vital we covered Hassan's trial as much as possible so our readers had the full story on how a teenager living in Surrey went from a star student to plotting a mass murder.
I was covering the trial on its opening day and crammed into the courtroom along with dozens of other journalists, I reported on evidence such as eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage of the explosion.
