Are you proud to live and work in Croydon? You should be.

It's one of the best places to live in the country.

With a booming local economy, Croydon is the economic powerhouse of the south east.

In addition, it has a relatively low crime rate, a rich heritage and culture, a great arts scene, fantastic ethnic diversity and first class leisure, transport and sporting facilities.

But what really sets Croydon apart from other places is that it has a vision Croydon knows exactly where it is going and where it wants to be in the 21st century.

In 2002, Croydon hopes to become officially recognised as the capital city of the South East with the granting of City Status by the Queen on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee.

And by 2020, Croydon will have truly become a city of the future.

Supported by Croydon Council,, its Vision 2020 dream will become reality.

Already work is underway on many of the projects the Grants leisure complex, the Skyline initiative and the Centrale shopping mall, which you can read about in this special edition of the Croydon Guardian.

Because this week we launch our 2002 We think Croydon's Champion' campaign.

We have joined with Croydon Council and leading businesses in this area to help promote Croydon as a great place to live and work.

Every month we will be running in-depth features on Croydon's contribution to the following categories: charity, culture, education, community, ethnic diversity, environment, sport and business.

We will also be looking for nominations for Croydon's unsung heroes in these categories who will become the town's official champions' honoured in a civic reception towards the end of the year.

The Croydon Guardian is delighted to have been joined in this initiative by Croydon Council and the following local companies: the Whitgift Centre, CETS, Croydon College, Nestl, the Croydon Guardian, the Smarter Croydon initiative, Lexus Croydon/McCarthy Toyota Croydon and asb law.

December 31, 2001 11:30