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We profile some of these businesses and organisations regularly in a feature called 'Up Close in Hitchin' while also encouraging opinion pieces from our readers and trusted contributors.

Here's successful Hitchin sci-fi author Matt Adcock, author of the hit novel Complete Darkness, as he asks: Have we fast-forwarded into dystopian times?

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How are the people of Hitchin feeling?

If the community Facebook groups I am part of are any indicators this COVID new normal is wreaking a fair deal of havoc on our mental health, uncertainty is rampant and hope for the future starting to be in shorter supply than pasta in supermarkets.

As a writer of near future fiction – it is getting harder to think up potentially shocking scenarios for humanity to face as everyday life keeps throwing curveballs at us.

Sure we haven't (to my knowledge) witnessed any walking dead on the streets of Hitchin but then again – we don't know the long-term effects of our current pandemic!?

I had the privilege of getting to go in and speak to the creative writing students at The Priory School just before lockdown and helped them get their short stories into a book, which is a great showcase for the next generation of potential authors in our town.

You can order a copy of the aptly titled: Darkness and Dystopia from Amazon along with pretty much everything else you might need these days.

It's not all entirely a dystopian nightmare just yet though.

I believe we are fortunate in Hitchin to have at least some beacons of encouragement.

One is the excellent work that youth charity Phase is doing in helping the young people of the town deal with the growing levels of anxiety, during my term as a trustee of this initiative it was always good to see that a much needed support network was being offered to schools in our area.

Another inspiring group are those running the Hitchin Food Rescue at the Half Moon pub.

At a time when food bills are much on people's minds, this worthy initiative saves uncooked food about to go to waste, recovered from local businesses and offers it on a 'PAYF' (pay as you feel) basis, making it accessible for all members of our community.

I have come across other encouraging signs too.

The Shared Space Hitchin facility provides affordable and flexible co-working space for local freelancers and entrepreneurs where they can work, share ideas, collaborate and connect just off the Market Square.

It's an oasis for those finding it hard to work from home and they also have a great range of products on sale and serve some of the best coffee in town too.

Do look out for the forthcoming map of 'NeoHitchin' that will show how the place might look in two hundred years' time that will be available there soon – it comes with my next short story that takes place in a future where a sinister oddly named cult has taken over the town.

So whatever the future hold, let's try and support each other, our brilliant local businesses and our neighbours.

In these worrying times, I'm with international poet Lang Lau when she says: 'You must emerge from adversity scathed but victorious – to tell your story and in turn, light the way for others…'

It's down to us but we can make Hitchin a beacon of hope for the surrounding area and that would be tale I'd like to write.

Buy Matt's must-read novel here