Spending hours on end in council meetings may not seem like fun for many people, but it is something I enjoy.
When adverts started appearing for the local democracy reporter service more than I year ago I thought “I fancy that”.
At the time I was teaching on the University of Sussex MA Journalism and supporting student journalists into work experience and their first jobs.
Now the first local democracy reporter, one of my former students, is celebrating a year in the role.
When the Brighton and Hove job came up rather than just fancying it, I decided to go for it.
I always enjoyed covering local government and was a bit of a public affairs swot during my journalism training.
With 20 years as a journalist behind me, it is still a thrill to see my by-line on stories, front pages and the BBC’s local news website.
It is also fun explaining to people why my work appears in multiple publications, because the local democracy reporter service is shared by all the city’s media.
Returning to the front line as a reporter was felt great back in May, and I have learned so much since then.
Thanks to BBC training I found I can write a radio script and deliver it pretty well.
For the first time in my career I started covering health issues with the clinical commissioning group, council health boards and the hospital trusts.
The learning curve was steep, but I am getting there.
It also surprises people how stories appear online before council meetings are finished.
I know the city. I was born here, as were my father and grandmother.
My great-granddad was a Brighton Borough Council bin man who raised his family in Moulsecoomb.
Where ever I am in Brighton and Hove it is and feels like home, but I can still find out more about so many areas.
I have enjoyed meeting a wide variety of people from those who regularly attend council meetings, those who shake things up a bit and resident representatives at housing panels who have such insight into their areas.
Most of all I have enjoyed keeping people informed.
There is an interesting year ahead for Brighton and Hove.
I look forward to finding out who will run it for the next four years and where we end up.
