I’VE been on Twitter for just under a decade, but last week was the first time that I’ve ever been blocked. The blocker in question was a journalist from the Mirror who tweeted that Salisbury had become a ‘paranoid city’. When myself and a number of other residents suggested otherwise his response was, firstly, to say that from covering the Novichok case he knew more about Salisbury than we did and then, secondly, to block anyone who disagreed with him.

Not all journalists have this mindset, I should add: last week, I had a coffee with a reporter from Le Monde, who’d spent three days interviewing people for a feature about the mood here. By engaging with locals rather than blocking them, he’d got a far more accurate sense of what the city is like. Life, as the Le Monde journalist discovered, goes on in Salisbury: rather than being in lockdown, there’s lots to remain positive about.

This week, for example, sees the launch of @home – a ‘community café concept’ created by owner Louella Adamson. The home of @home is on Bridge Street, in that remarkable Tardis-like Grade II listed building that, depending how old you are, you may remember as a vodka bar, a book shop, or Salisbury’s first ever wine cellar (though you might be defying the ageing process to remember the last).

So what is a community café concept? The idea is to offer Salisbury a member’s space for the whole community, with activities from knitting to stand-up comedy, mindfulness to junkyard modelling. Louella is particularly keen to offer teenagers in Salisbury somewhere to go, as an alternative to hanging out in McDonald’s or down the park. It’s an impressive line-up of activities, particularly given how quickly it has been put together.

When I met Louella last week, it was clear that here was someone with the drive, passion and determination to pull something like this off. Louella is Salisbury born and bred, who worked her way her up as a world championship dancer before going off to work for Disney. She’s done everything from opening their store in Harrods to working for Madame Tussauds as an actress – she even went to ‘Scare School’ to learn how to frighten people in their horror exhibits. Along the way she’s used her ringside seat to learn what makes both business and entertainment tick.

Louella originally planned to open the @home concept in a disused chocolate shop in London, until family circumstances brought her back to where she grew up. The capital’s loss has become Salisbury’s gain: while Louella has ambitions to open similar set-ups elsewhere, it’s fitting that she should launch her idea in the city she calls home.