| Good evening I hope you've had a great day and managed to get out in between the showers. Locked down in our living rooms, the world seemed like a small place and our priority was rightly our loved ones and our community right here. But as we venture out, lucky enough to live in a country which has managed to get a modicum of control over a virus that has buckled the planet, we need to think about those who are not so lucky. Here in the UK, around half of adults have had a first vaccination jab while in India they are in the grips of a spiralling coronavirus toll - with no hard-working NHS to provide support and poverty beyond any we have experienced. Activists and charities have called for donations and “moral support”, as India battles with shortages of beds and oxygen and rising deaths. Charities including the British Red Cross, ActionAid, Oxfam India and Save the Children are providing aid and medical equipment but even Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the situation in India as “harrowing” and it’s unlikely even with huge aid packages from the UK and the US it will be in time for many. We've had a hard slog but we are should feel lucky in many ways. As always thank you for reading. By supporting your local newspaper website you are ensuring news is reported locally right here. Regards, Nicola Adam Editor Blackpool Gazette Associate Editor Lancashire Post | 
