Catriona Stewart's Year in Review: Inside Glasgow Royal Infirmary ICU to meeting Mercy Baguma's baby Adriel

Looking back through the archives at a year of news stories, it’s poignant how positive the start of 2020 was.

At the very beginning of the year I joined Queens parkrun - a 5k race around the South Side park, one of hundreds just like it around the world. A weekly runner, I instead volunteered at the Saturday morning event and wrote about how rewarding the experience had been.

There are also stories that take on new significance with hindsight. I wrote about how lap dancers in the city had joined GMB Scotland to fight for the future of their workplaces as council bosses consulted on new licensing powers that could see clubs close.

Just a few months later I would be writing about those dancers’ pleas for Scottish Government support as they fought for their livelihoods with clubs remaining shut due to coronavirus.

In February there was good news for residents in Govanhill, where the local policing team introduced a new initiative called Selecta DNA to try to cut the rate of thefts in the area.

Under the name Operation Kapal, police used a new hightech glue to protect property and tackle high rates of housebreaking - and this saw a dramatic drop in the crime in its first few weeks.

Looking back at the stories I covered in March, by now almost everything relates to the coronavirus crisis - there is talk of stockpiling, of schools closing, of families trapped overseas as flights were cancelled.

There was also positivity. Communities coming together to set up support networks, companies turning their production lines to generate hand sanitiser.

But at the Glasgow Times we decided we wanted to help too. We set up a partnership with the city’s education department and, twice a week from March until August, we produced education resources in the paper to help parents with home schooling and family wellbeing. We also gave hundreds of free copies of the paper to families without computer access.

In April there were terrible scenes as a second tenement block on Albert Cross in Pollokshields was burned to the ground just five months following the earlier blaze.

But from amid the distress came some happy news... as little Frida the hedgehog was rescued from the rubble a day after the fire by building control officers from Glasgow City Council.

In May I had the privilege to speak to Andy Leaman whose life had been altered irreparably by coronavirus.

His mum, dad and father-in-law all passed away from the virus within weeks of each other, leaving his nine-year-old daughter without three of her grandparents.

Andy’s bravery in being able to talk to eloquently about his loss at a time of such trauma will stay with me.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon read out Andy’s words at her daily briefing on the day we ran his story. He asked that people follow guidelines and social distance. “We would not want anyone to go through what we have had to go through,” he said.

After weeks of organisation, including specialist PPE fittings for myself and photographer Elaine Livingstone at Yorkhill Hospital, I was allowed to go into an ICU ward at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in June to speak to doctors and nurses about what they had endured at the peak of the virus.

That month I was also shortlisted for two awards at the Regional Press Awards - one for Columnist of the Year and also for Community Reporter.

Mercy Baguma

One of the most rewarding parts of this job is meeting incredible people and in September I met with Eric Nnanna, the father of a little boy left alone for four days when his mum suddenly.

Eric and Mercy Baguma were both asylum seekers and the story of Mercy’s sudden death shocked the country. Eric and little Adriel will now be allowed to remain in the UK - a happy outcome to a terrible situation.

At the end of that month Glasgow’s most senior police officer Hazel Hendren retired, with Mark Sutherland taking over her role as Chief Superintendent.

I interviewed both officers - Hazel about her funny and fascinating memories of the city and Mark about his plans for Glasgow’s policing future.

Chief Superintendent Hazel Hendren at Stewart St Police Station Picture: Robert Perry

October brought me a blast from the past as I interviewed the Royal Ballet’s Reece Clarke. He would have been aged four the last time I saw him - and me 16 - but we actually went to the same ballet school. Poor Reece coped very well when I appeared on Zoom in front of him and shouted “I remember you as a wee baby!” He’s grown into a fine young man...

Again, at the end of the year, we teamed up with the education department to appeal for warm clothes for city pupils. The response was overwhelming with more than 4000 items donated - a sure sign of the kind hearts of our readers.

On a personal note, I was promoted to Chief Reporter this year, a role I’ve seen filled previously by reporters I hugely admire.

Living up to that will make 2021 a real challenge - but after this year, it feels like anything is possible.