Thank you for your interest, your trust and your patience.

Today, after a period in hibernation, The Cessnock Advertiser is back in print and back in circulation.

As you know, production of the newspaper temporarily ceased in mid-April.

That decision was not taken lightly but was forced upon us by the economic impact of government measures put in place to control the coronavirus pandemic.

Looking back over the past 90 days is to see a world of dramatic changes.

As social distancing rules and lockdowns put the economy into a sudden deep freeze, we were affected like many businesses in our region.

But today your local news is back in print.

The Cessnock Advertiser is proud of the role we play in our community.

For six decades we have told the stories of our town and region - questioning, celebrating and championing as we created an important historical record of the life of our beautiful part of the world and its amazing people.

This work has gone on through depressions and recessions, and through droughts, floods and bushfires.

Through the pandemic and the shutdown, we have continued to update our website with essential news.

The Cessnock Advertiser is more determined than ever to tell the stories that matter to our community and to deliver the advertising solutions that achieve results for our local traders and other commercial customers.

To those many loyal readers and advertisers who told us in recent months how much they missed the printed version of their local newspaper, thank you for your expressions of support and words of encouragement.

Those kind words have meant a lot to the team here at The Cessnock Advertiser.

But right now, we need more than words.

As we return to printing the local news you can trust to keep you informed, we need you to please get behind us by advertising with us.

By supporting The Cessnock Advertiser - and those who advertise with us - you will be helping to sustain the local journalism that keeps our town and our region connected.