Why we're backing Newport...

Our aim is to be positive about our city and explain why it's a great place in which to live, work and do business. Here Argus Editor KEVIN WARD explains why We're Backing Newport.

IT'S time to be positive about Newport.

Sometimes it seems it is all too easy to be negative about the city. And those of us who live in Newport are often first in the queue to do the place down.

Of course, Newport has its problems. But so does every major town and city in the United Kingdom.

Negativity breeds negativity – and we think it's time to change that, hence the We're Backing Newport campaign.

It is a city I've been proud to call my home for nearly 30 years. I am passionate about this city.

And I genuinely believe there has never been a better time to live, work and do business in Newport.

This is truly a city on the rise. Newport is packed with potential and is being transformed before our eyes.

There is plenty of uncertainty in the economy following the result of the EU referendum. As a city, Newport voted for Brexit.

There is a real danger that the economy will be talked down in the continuing debate following the referendum.

So today we start the process of talking Newport up.

In recent years, Newport has proved itself time and again. As a city, we can think big and deliver big.

The Ryder Cup and then the Nato Summit made Newport the focus of the world.

The transformation of the riverfront, the opening of Friars Walk, and the arrival of major employers like Admiral have changed the face of the city centre – though there is still much work to be done.

I'm delighted some of the city's key organisations and businesses such as Roberts and Co, Newport City Council, the University of South Wales, Tovey Bros, Specsavers, the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport City Homes, New Adveture Travel, Newport Now, Middleton Mobility, Malmo Hearing and Newport Live have already signed up as official supporters of our We're Backing Newport campaign and I'm sure many more will follow.

Like any other employer in the city, the Argus wants to see Newport flourish.

It is good for us, good for our staff, and good for the tens of thousands of people who read the Argus in print and online every day.

A successful and thriving Newport is also good for the surrounding area of greater Gwent.

And if we – and those supporting our campaign – do not shout about the city, then who will?

Newport has to stand up for itself and not wait for others to do so. It is our job to ensure our city fulfils its potential.

Over the coming weeks, we will be publishing articles written by people playing a huge part in helping Newport achieve its potential.

We will be highlighting some of the city's success stories in the worlds of business (big and small), sport and in the local community.

For every Friars Walk there is a Crafted, for every Celtic Manor there is a HiCoffee, for every Admiral there is a Tiny Rebel.

We have a proud history as a city that helped to shape democracy through the Chartist Uprising, and industry through the docks and steelworks.

We have a present that is a work in progress but of which we should also be proud, with a thriving new city centre shopping and retail complex and a sports village that helped our Team GB Olympians and Paralympians bring home gold medals galore.

And we have a future that is bright and rich in potential – with an expanding digital sector, exciting plans for a merger of further and higher education in a riverfront Knowledge Quarter, and an international conference centre at the Celtic Manor that will be the envy of Britain and bring huge rewards for the hotel and hospitality sectors in the city and beyond.

Most of all, this campaign is about you – the people who live and work in Newport – because you are the people who will help to determine the future of Wales' third biggest city.

Our campaign aims to celebrate all that is great about our city – its people, its businesses and its future.

We're Backing Newport is already gathering support across the city. Everyone I have spoken to about our plans has been hugely positive about the idea.

And we want everyone in Newport to be part of it.

We want to hear from companies, organisations and Newportonians who have something to celebrate.

We want to highlight their achievements.

And we want you to join the campaign – write to us, email us or join in on social media using the hashtag #backingnewport. For the next three months we will be featuring success stories that are improving the life and the economy of the city.

Whatever the post-Brexit future may bring, we want to show that our people and our businesses are strong and flexible enough to handle it.

This campaign is about Newport taking the initiative. It is about this city being defiant and positive. It is about determining our own future and steering our own course.

It is about being proud of Newport, of its history and its future.

It is time to work together. It is time to be optimistic. It is time to back Newport.