My first visit to Haywards Heath since lockdown was a reassuring experience

Before lockdown I went into Haywards Heath, along with the other towns and villages in Mid Sussex, regularly to hold reporter surgeries, cover events, or just to have lunch with friends.

Despite pubs, restaurants, and retailers having reopened, I’m still going out as infrequently as possible to minimise the risk to myself and others.

However, I know that there will come a time where I have to be out on my patch regularly again, and I want to be able to do so without panicking about the train journey, or being around a lot of other people.

With that in mind, I made lunch plans with a friend and spent an afternoon in Haywards Heath to get used to the new world we’ve now found ourselves in.

It turns out I had little reason to worry, because everywhere I went most people were following one-way systems, wearing face coverings, and social distancing.

Xavier Voigt-Hill, who lives in Scaynes Hill, said: “I still feel very uncomfortable coming out, this is the tenth time I’ve left the house in the last four months but I’m here to get a few things for someone who’s shielding.

“On the whole it seems that people are, at least inside, wearing their masks and there doesn’t seem to be any issues in that respect which is good and reassuring.

“But also, people need to know not to touch the outside of the masks and they’re more effective when they’re on your face than when they’re around your neck.”

I went to my favourite café in town, Flinders Coffee, for its takeaway lunch service and newly set up plant shop, and it felt so comforting to talk to the staff and see how well they had adapted to the new normal.

Even in typically busy shops like WHSmith, M&S and Waitrose, people were successfully social distancing, wearing face coverings, and being mindful of those around them, which was reassuring.

And on both train journeys, I was either the only person in the carriage or sharing it with one or two other people - I had no need to worry about being crammed in with hundreds of other passengers.

It’s clear just how much work has gone into making shops safer during the pandemic, and having visited Haywards Heath I feel a lot more confident about getting back out into Mid Sussex to find stories, when it’s the right time.