2014 has certainly been an interesting year for the area and also one of great change. Schools have been performing well with excellent exam results, with visits from BAFTA award-winning actors, top-of-the-range facilities all being unveiled over the year and Writhlington School's Drama Department proving to be a match for the West End, with their performance of Les Misérables receiving attention from the show's West End cast.

The whole area did extremely well with In Bloom competitions and High Littleton Primary School became the country's first Academy Primary School, when it joined the Midsomer Norton School Federation. We've faced trials and tribulations with the cuts to Children's Services being tackled by a wide range of individuals and the loss of the bank in Radstock. In fact, Radstock has seen a lot of changes over the course of 2014, some that many thought they would never see. There are proposals for the library to move and regeneration work has begun, with the new link road now complete. The old Homemaker building was demolished after standing empty for many years, for affordable housing. Keynsham's regeneration has also been a big talking point over the past year, with most of the building work now complete.

Other big events in 2014 have been the beginning of four years of commemorative events marking the centenary of World War I, which were very well supported locally. The return of Midsomer Norton Carnival to the High Street was also a huge talking point in 2014.

Perhaps the most commendable thing of the year though, is the amount of charitable events that took place across the region, from Ice Bucket Challenges, to trekking across the wilderness, to driving across France, it seems that 2014 saw people from all over the area donating and sponsoring some amazing events and causes.

Our work at The Journal means that we are lucky to follow your progress as these projects, charitable or otherwise, develop over the year – so here are some of our favourite headlines of 2014.

It seems as though we started as we meant to go on, as papers in January featured the fundraising campaign for Becci McCafferty and her young family. Becci's story was one that appeared several times over the past year – in January, residents of Peasedown St John went above and beyond to help raise money so that Becci, who has been diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer, could spend quality time with her family and take her six children to Disneyworld. The community backing for Becci has even inspired the creation of the 'Fund for Peasedown', which has been set up to help families in the future in

similar circumstances. Over the year, many events have been organised to help with fundraising for Becci, including a walk from Peasedown to Cheddar and various quiz nights. Several short films have also been made following the progress of the fundraising and Becci's journey.

More charitable actions were reported in February, when we featured Brington Engineering, based in Chilcompton, after they spent time on the Somerset Levels to help people deal with the intense flooding that came with the winter months. Workers from Brington not only spent a day helping to build bridges and clear water, they also donated equipment to help make life a little easier for the residents.

During the spring, our front pages featured our favourite local superhero and runner

extraordinaire, John Reynolds. John has taken part in several runs over the past year, going some tremendous distances and inspiring local schoolchildren along the way. Jim Plunkett-Cole continued his running challenge into 2014, running at least 10k every day after raising over £20,000 for local charities and is continuing to be a positive force by setting the annual challenge to others who document their progress via Facebook. By New Year's Eve 2014, Jim and the team will have completed another Green Man Ultra Marathon around Bristol, supported by local running clubs and John himself, to mark the end of the year. We also reported on local fitness instructor, Bev Nichols, who has raised over £59,000 for charities over the years and documented the progress of Emma Welch, from Chilcompton, who, despite health issues of her own, hopes to take a world record-breaking team to Snowdon in 2015.

Another big story of the year came in May when 'Busgate' hit Bath. A new bus lane caused havoc in the city centre, with motorists around B&NES and visitors from further afield being handed out fines for driving in the contentious lane. After many complaints and news coverage, the Council handed back the fines and worked towards setting out new road markings and signs, before eventually shelving the idea – for the time being.

Also dominating the local press in 2014 was the closing of the Stones Cross pub and the campaign to save the Wunderbar. After putting forward its case, the Wunderbar looked set to stay the course, but the restrictions placed on it saw the bar having to close for several months. With the staff working with Midsomer Norton Town Council and Pubwatch, hope for its return was a top story in September, with the bar finally reopening its doors in November. The fate of the Stones Cross though, has yet to be decided and the police raid that resulted in its closure saw 35 people being charged, with many now serving prison sentences.

September saw the culmination of one recurring charitable story – the RUH's China Trek for the new Cancer Centre. Journal Editor, Becky, was one of the trekkers that took part in the excursion and as you will have noticed, we at The Journal held monthly cake sales at our offices, plus Becky organised several charity evenings and quizzes across the local area to help raise the money needed. The trekkers embarked on their journey at the beginning of September and between them raised over £45,000 for the new Cancer

Centre. Many thanks to the readers who generously donated, the tenants at Business West for donating and eating so much cake, Terry and Annette Andrews and, in particular, Terry and Caroline Wynne MBE and the people of Paulton, who through the League of Friends of Paulton Hospital, donated £1,000 to the cause as a surprise for Becky.

Charitable events weren't just undertaken by Editors and organisations, but also by a group of toddlers who made our front page in October. The group of friends, all aged four, took to their bikes for a sponsored cycle ride from Midsomer Norton to Radstock to raise money for Blood Bikes and the many services that they provide.

In fact, we've had several young people gaining great achievements this year. One Writhlington pupil in particular, Corey Walkes, has found his face on the front page and inside the paper on more than one occasion during 2014. There was much excitement

towards the end of this year, when Corey returned from Florida a Double Silver World Medallist in trampolining. Well done, Corey! Let's hope 2015 continues to be successful for him and all our young sport stars currently in training.

One of our favourite stories of the year was the surprise (and top secret at the time) visit of BAFTA-winning actor, Sir Ian McKellen, who spoke to students at Chew Valley and Norton Hill Schools about stamping out bullying and homophobia. Whilst at Chew Valley School, he recreated a scene from Lord of the Rings, earning the school thousands of hits on YouTube, which was ideal, considering a month later, they hosted their very first YouTube day for their media students.

During October, the future of South Road Car Park, in Midsomer Norton, became a hot topic once more, when a group of travellers moved onto the site for a week. News on the car park land, which has been earmarked for a supermarket, has gone very quiet of late and it is thought that any potential supermarkets involved are rethinking their store strategy. The traveller issue highlighted the need for parking in the town and brought the supermarket debate back to the forefront of everyone's minds, as we head into 2015.

The return of the carnival to Midsomer Norton in November was another huge event for the area. Following the initial test run earlier in the year, it was discovered that for the route to head through the High Street, along to Radstock and then up to Westfield, there would need to be some modifications to the traffic light island opposite the Town Hall. This, as well as other unfortunate works, resulted in several confused motorists and long tailbacks. When finally November 10th came, it was most certainly a 'Tale of Two Carnivals'. While the procession through Midsomer Norton went without a hitch and drew huge crowds, several problems delayed the arrival in Radstock and Westfield, and, coupled with very heavy rain, led to disappointment for residents at the end of the route. All eyes will now be watching to see what the future will hold for carnival in 2015.

Housing developments and planning issues were a huge subject in 2014, with the area seemingly under siege from applications and planning appeals, bringing residents and Councillors together to fight large developments in the area, with varying degrees of success. Villagers in Peasedown St John lost their fight at Greenlands Road for example, whilst Kilmersdon residents were relieved when a large solar farm appeal on agricultural land was dismissed. While several new housing estates have been built in the area over the past year and with housing being part of Radstock's regeneration, whether there is a need for more development is a debate that will continue well into 2015. With the Core Strategy finally approved and local areas working on their Placemaking Plans, the future of housebuilding may, seemingly, be back under control.

2015 will be an eventful year, particularly with a General Election due in May and we wonder what we would have reported on by the time we get to December 2015. One thing's for sure, we'll be working just as hard to bring the local news to you every week, whether that's through the paper, online or via Facebook or Twitter (we were truly astounded by how many of you watched the Midsomer Norton otter video).

Many of you might not know this, but we are a small, local team, setting all of your adverts and designing the paper ourselves, all done in house, every week, and then delivered by our local driver.

It's this ethos which has seen us producing The Journal for over thirty years.

So, thank you, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and surrounding areas, for doing what you do best. For being lively, vibrant communities and giving us plenty to report on. Here's to 2015!

Happy New Year from all of us at The Journal