In increasingly tough times for everyone, working together is more important than ever.

That's why at Newsquest we are looking to do our bit to help some of our local businesses in south London, Surrey and Kent in fighting back against coronavirus with our new Backing South London Business campaign.

Many businesses are getting support from the government and many have already thought up new and innovative ways to keep trading. This has to be done in a responsible way, of course, with social distancing vitally important as we work to stop the spread of Covid-19.

We want to highlight the selfless work already being carried out by local traders in the areas we publish.

Let’s highlight the positive things going on in our community. Let’s shout proudly and loudly about the local businesses which are still open.

If you have any examples of a business going above and beyond, then please get in touch by emailing slcolumns@newsquest.co.uk

Our sales team continues to work during the pandemic.

Tanya Hurley, sales manager, said: “We are best placed to lead on this campaign as we reach a huge percentage of the local population.

“As this crisis develops the local communities we serve will continue to rely on us to keep them informed.

“We have already seen a significant increase in traffic to our websites and we will ensure that we are really banging the drum for independent and family owned businesses and encouraging our loyal readership to show their support by shopping local.

“Any business which wants to be featured in our campaign should get in touch.

“I have also instructed my team to reach out to these businesses over the coming days and make them aware of our campaign. Many of these businesses have supported us for several years by advertising their products and services within our titles and at this time it is appropriate we show our support.

“If any other businesses would like to come on board as a partner I urge them to reach out to me directly.”

Readers can support the campaign by using the hashtag #BackingSouthLondonBusiness.

You can support a local business which has gone above and beyond, or tell us about the ways your business is coping.

For more information about supporting this campaign, email slcolumns@newsquest.co.uk for news or thurley@localiq.co.uk for sales.