It's been one of the busiest weeks of the year in the Gazette newsroom with a number of major stories to cover.

The team have really pulled out all the stops to make sure we have given our readers the best and most up to date coverage both in print and online.

Reporting on two murders in the borough in one week is a unique situation I can't remember experiencing before in my time at the Gazette.

It was also important that we made sure that all our readers across the four editions got the full stories - which involved a lot of careful planning between the newsdesk and production team.

And while a lot of our efforts have understandably been diverted to these stories it's still important that all the other news from around the borough is fully covered.

Having just looked through this week's papers as they arrive fresh on my desk this is certainly the case and the major stories apart it is a really strong edition this week.

On a lighter note after the Gazette deadline yesterday I spent the late afternoon at The Chimes Shopping Centre in Uxbridge helping to judge tne entries for their annual charity awards open to schools, charities and youth groups.

We have been working with the Chimes in promoting the awards in the Gazette and Leader and they attracted an impressive number of entries.

It's always difficult deciding who should receive finds as they were all worthy causes in their own right.

However, finally along with centre manager Tony Dunn, marketing manager Michelle Moffitt and Mandy Bhullar we selected those who will receive the money - and a special presentation will be held in the new year.

It seems like the Chimes is becoming my second home - and not because I am spending all my time Christmas shopping - as I will be back there on Friday to give our Toy Appeal another push as we move towards the last week of collecting festive gifts for less fortunate youngsters across the borough.

As real as it is the credit crunch can make rather depressing reading when it is continually in the news but on the other hand you can't ingnore it.

In this week's Gazette we have a number of stories relating to the current economic downturn while on a happier note we have launched our annual Christmas Toy Appeal.

We have strong splashes on all four editions and some good investigative work by Uxbridge reporter Libby Jones turned what at first appeared to be no more than a possible rumour into a really strong story, if tragic, for the main edition.

Infact I was pleased with this week's paper which has a really good mix of news. With people's minds now rapidly turning to Christmas it will be interesting to see how sales perform this week and how quickly they start dropping away, as they usually do, in the run up to Christmas,

No matter how small the gift I would encourage as many readers as possible to donate to our annual Toy Appeal which is again being run in conjunction with The Chimes Shopping Centre in Uxbridge and Hillingdon Hospital.

Toys will be distributed ready for Christmas to children at Hillingdon Hospital and also to less fortunate youngsters across the borough through Hillingdon Council.

Donated toys can be dropped off at The Chimes shopping centre information desk and the Gazette office in Bakers Road, Uxbridge between now and December 14 - and remember no matter how small every present will be gratefully received.

Still on a festive theme the ice rink in Uxbridge opens later this week to the public.

Situated outside the Civic Centre this is a first for the town and having had a look yesterday everything seems well on course for the opening.

It will bring some added festive cheer to the borough and also hopefully encourage even more people into Uxbridge town centre over the Christmas period.

My only fear is that tomorrow night almost the entire editorial staff of the Gazette have been invited to a special VIIP preview night at the rink - they have all been warned not to fall over and injure themselves otherwise we could be skating on thin ice with regard to next week's paper!

And will I be joining in the fun - the answer is no.

My record on skates is not particularly good and I am still recovering from a sporting ankle injury picked up several months ago - well that's my excuse anyway....

Today we launch our annual Local Heroes awards which are always one of the highlights of the year at the Gazette.

Once again Uxbridge College are sponsoring the awards, which are now in their seventh year and we have worked with the College ever since the idea of first running Local Heroes was developed.

I was delighted to meet up with College Principal Lariane Smith earlier this week to launch the awards which will now be featured in the Gazette and Leader over the next couple of months.

Each week we will be featuring some of the many people who will be nominated in the various categories and the awards will culminate with a gala evening in February at the Hayes Community Campus.

The idea of the awards is to honour the many unsung heroes in our community so if you know someone you feel deserves to be nominated then get cracking and complete an entry form.

There is the added bonus that this year the overall Hero of Hillingdon winner will pick up a cheque for £1,000.

While on the subject of awards I must admit to having a smile to myself over all the publicity this week about John Sergeant's performances on Strictly Come Dancing (and by the way I don't watch it).

Earlier this year John, an Ealing resident, very kindly presented the prizes at our sister paper the Ealing Gazette's Pride in our People Awards.

I had the pleasure of meeting John, who was a thoroughly nice guy and a real star on the night.

However, I suspect even he is now having a quiet smile over all the publicity he has attracted in recent weeks - far more than when he was just a plain old television reporter.

Come on vote for John ......

* Since this posting John has decided to pull out of Strictly Come Dancing.

In a statement, he said: "The trouble is that there is now a real danger that I might win the competition. Even for me that would be a joke too far."

One thing that continues to confuse many a reporter is the use of the good old apostrophe.

If I had a pound for everytime I have had to correct a mistake in someone's copy over the years due to incorrect use of the apostrophe I would be a very rich man! (by the way I am not).

The one that seems to continually trip up young trainee reporters, and not so young reporters, is the use of it's and its.

I was therefore interested to read a story on the front page of a national newspaper earlier this week on the very subject of apostrophes under the headline 'Apostrophes:they're confusing.'

It went on to say that the apostrophe is the punctuation mark that casuses the most problems - and claimed that nearly half of us are unable to use it properly.

I can't say that I disagree with that statement or the comments of Prof Christopher Mulvey from the Museum of the English Language at Winchester University who blamed "hopelessly confusing" English punctuation and spelling.

Back to life at the Gazette and I thought I would share with you the most read stories on our website over the last month.

So here goes the top 10:

1. Tributes for boxing legend Kevin Finnegan
2. Hayes body known to police
3. Hayes road closed after body discovered
4. First day at School supplement on sale
5. Immigration raid snares 11
6. Murder has got us all pretty scared
7. Flat plunge drama
8. Yiewsley woman dies of unknown causes
9. Man charged with murder in Hayes
10. Uxbridge woman accused of sexual abuse

Well that's another edition of the Gazette safely put to bed and as deadline days go it all went remarkably smoothly - even if our production editor has a bad attack of man flu.

No stunning stories to report this week just a good solid edition of local news and issues, the vital ingredients of any local newspaper.

Over the last few weeks we have had a highly encouraging uplift in sales and I am hoping that the current trend continues at least until the Christmas period when turkey and tinsel take over from the usual diet of local news for most of our readers.

While on the subject of Christmas (sorry I know it is only November) I am glad to see that the Christmas tree in Uxbridge town centre will be ready for the big switch on of the lights this Sunday.

Last year there was something of a 'row' over the position of the tree - although no one would admit to it - and it was missing when the town's lights were switched on. It did appear at a later date not least after we ran several stories in the paper about the missing tree!

On a more serious note, in these troubled economic times, it is important that especially at this time of year we encourage as many people as possible to shop locally and support the traders.in our towns and neighbourhoods.

People have been asking (well one, possibly two) what has happened to this blog for the last few months.

The simple answer is that due to a combination of work related events I simply have not had the time to sit down and post entries on a regular basis - so therefore have refrained from just the occasional missive.

Hopefully normal service will now be resumed and I will keep you up to date on events at the Gazette on a more regular basis.

To recap on what has been going on over the last couple of months would result in a marathon posting but here is a quick snapshot of some of the highlights.

1. Our news editor Chris Longhurst has celebrated seven years on the paper (the sweets and cakes were delicious)
2. Our feature writer Jerry Lyons has crossed to the other side and taken a 'boring' job in PR ( hope the money was worth it)
3. Our issue with the First Day at School picture supplement in it sold like hot ckaes (what a relief drinks all round)
4. We are just about to launch our Christmas Toy Appeal ( which means it is the season to be jolly)
5. My email inbox is already exploding with meaningless press releases about Christmas and the Credit Crunch ( do we really believe that more men are now staying single due to the current economic situation!)
6. I hurt my ankle while playing badminton (yes, I know I should have known better at my age)

Anyway, it's good to be back and I will be bringing you some more serious postings on life at Gazette House in the coming weeks.

Apologies for the lack of postings recently it has just been very busy over the last week or so.

A combination of the bank holiday, meetings and covering for the sports editor - yes he is on holiday again -have meant that I have been rather pre-occupied with other things.

This week's Gazette is now finished and should be on the press as we speak.

After several quiet weeks on the news front slowly things are starting to return to normal and we have some strong stories this week and several rather bizarre ones.

My favourite is about two dogs - called Branston and Pickle - who have taken to surfing the waves. It might just about still be the 'silly season' but this is perfectly true and well worth a read on page three of this week's paper.

Another story that I am sure will provoke some reaction is the claim by several local mums that they have been 'ripped off' by a child model agency who promised that they would find work for the toddlers only to not come up with anything.

With the schools just about to return after the summer break we are starting to plan our highly popular First Day at School picture supplement and in the next few days our photographers will be busy visiting schools across the borough taking class pictures. I will keep you posted on progress.

I am off to Cardiff tomorrow for a meeting with fellow editors across the Trinity Mirror regions and as usual there will be plenty of topics to debate.

ADRIAN SUDBURY's award winning blog is to be captured in a book.

All his Baldy's Blog entries - and many of the fantastic comments of
support he recieved - will be included in Baldy's Book, due out in early September.

As well as the blog, there are also many family photos of Sudders and
pictures from his time as a reporter on the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown - who has vowed to back Sudders' bone marrow
campaign - has written a personal foreword to the 144-page paperback book.
In it he says: "My father told me when I was young that everyone has the
chance to make their mark on this world, whether for good or bad.
"Adrian has left his mark for good."

Radio 5Live presenter Victoria Derbyshire and Trinity Mirror plc chief executive Sly
Bailey also pay tribute to Adrian's courage and personality.

All profits from the book will go to the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust.

Baldy's Book is priced £7.99 plus £1.50 P+P (UK) and is available from
www.merseyshop.com or call 0845 1430001 to place your order.

Readers of this blog will recall my postings about fellow journalist Adrian Sudbury and his brave fight with leukaemia.

Adrian, who worked for one of our sister papers, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, sadly died this week at the age of 27 years.

He fought a public battle with leukaemia after being diagnosed with the disease in 2006 and he chronicled his fight in his award-winning Baldy's Blog - http://baldyblog.freshblogs.co.uk/

After a bone marrow transplant was rejected by his body, Adrian decided in May he was not going to have any further chemotherapy, and since then has devoted his remaining months to raising awareness about bone marrow transplants.

Adrian embarked on a concerted media campaign, hoping to make classes on blood, organ and bone marrow transplantation compulsory in all sixth form colleges.

Adrian's editor at the Examiner Roy Wright, said that thousands of readers from across the globe became friends to Adrian through the website, all part of Adrian's Army.

He said: "Sudders is a tragic loss to his family, his many friends and to journalism"

August is often described as the 'silly season' in the newspaper industry.

However, it has been a particularly good news week and today's Gazette is one of the strongest editions we have had for a while.

It seemed everything happened last Friday with a lorry hitting a bus stop and over turning and then unexploded World War Two bombs being found near the site of Uxbridge Lido.

This is where the website really comes into its own as we were able to break the stories online pretty much as they happened.

And on Saturday part of the town centre in Uxbridge was closed off for a number of hours after a serious road traffic accident.

There are also a number of other strong issue stories in this week's paper and a round up off A-level success stories from across the borough.

With a lot of people appearing to be away on holiday this week I am not expecting it to be one of our strongest sales weeks but it's still rewarding for all the team when a really good newsy paper comes together.

Today's news meeting will see us gearing up for our coverage of the GCSE results which are out tomorrow and again we will be looking at all the opportunities both for the website and next week's paper.

And with the bank holiday weekend ahead our deadlines have all been advanced making it a tough few days as we crack on with next week's paper.