Dear reader,
I am the audience and content editor for the Bucks Free Press newspaper, covering sister sites across Berkshire including the Reading Chronicle, Bracknell News, Slough Observer and Windsor Observer. I have had the pleasure of meeting many people from all walks of life across the Buckinghamshire patch, virtually and in person, but for those I am yet to meet, hello - it's nice to meet you!
So here's a little story about me.
I was born in Slough at Wexham Park Hospital and live with my mum, two crazy dogs and a cat in Maidenhead. I'm moving soon to Bracknell having renovated a fixer-upper with my partner for what feels like forever.
From a young age, I've always known I wanted to be a journalist. I was always told I have a "special power" at being able to listen to two conversations at once and often found myself hanging around with the adults at family gatherings to find out the gossip rather than socialising with my own age group.
At school, studying books, analysing poems and writing essays about subjects in English Literature and Philosophy fascinated me more than boring maths.
But this wasn't what inspired me to get into Journalism; my late Grandad Robert Perrin - who some of you might be familiar with the name, was the reason why I've wanted to work in the media industry.
Despite having never met my grandad, my grandma always shared anecdotes about the exciting stories and investigations he covered during his heyday as a newspaper journalist.
Robert Perrin, also known as Bob, moved from his first job on the Portsmouth Evening News to Fleet Street where he worked for the Associated Press, Sunday Pictorial, Daily Herald and the Sun. Next came the BBC from 1965 to 1979.
He was known as the 'wise man-about-town', a fellow who knew the inside of High Wycombe's pubs better than his own office, where the BFP was formerly based in Gomm Road.
Bob covered the troubles in Northern Ireland as a young BBC reporter where he saw conflict and mangled bodies line the deprived streets right in front of his own eyes.
He covered other world news events from the Moors Murders to Bobby Kennedy's funeral.
One thing that made me chuckle about my grandfather is that he makes a point that as journalists, we're only human and can slip up sometimes. For example, when he once read the BBC TV news in Manchester and suddenly realised the entire bulletin had been read the week before!
Having been inspired by his exciting career, I knew journalism was the path I wanted to take and it just felt right.
I was accepted into Bournemouth University to study the multimedia journalism course where shorthand took over my life, I studied law book after law book and learned all there was to know about the basic skills of news reporting before graduating in 2018. During that time I dabbled in a bit of radio work but preferred writing over hearing the sound of my own voice, so newspaper writing was the way to go.
My very first news reporting job began at the Bracknell News which will always hold a special place in my heart.
I've been working in local newspapers for five years now and the most rewarding part of the job is being a voice for the local community, lending an ear to someone in need and giving people a platform to be heard.
Local newspapers are vital in that they hold local authorities to account and expose wrongdoing, which the public need to be aware of.
In my career, I've written about all sorts of weird and wonderful things. From mysterious objects in the sky to being the first at the scene of a crime.
I've helped desperate housing association residents with issues to do with mould and raised awareness of the need for local pubs to remain open, as to me, they're are a place where I get to talk to people and source news stories.
I hope you value our paper as much as we value you in the community and that through letting you see the person behind the byline, I have reassured you that reporters are not the enemy and we're only human.
We are here to help so please do not hesitate to reach out if you have a story.
Isabella Perrin
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