It's been another busy month in our community newsroom!

We're running community news cafes on a Monday morning (10am-noon) here at Bramley Lawn - they're great for people to come in,  suggest potential stories, or just come in for a cuppa, biscuit and a chat. You'd very welcome to attend!  Next Monday will be our last before we take a bit of a breather for the summer holidays.

Our latest community reporters' training course finished recently, with seven wonderful souls 'graduating' at the end of the six-week course! (see some of them below). 

We now have more than 60 volunteer community reporters, who we've trained over the past few years.  Check out their content here:

Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement on our next course in the coming days - they're fun and free and you'd be very welcome to attend!

Also, look out for an announcement regarding our new 'editorial steering group' (we need a better name!), which will meet for the first time in September. It's an opportunity to suggest content and ideas and generally discuss local issues and how we should cover them.

Speaking of volunteers, we've recruited a new member of our volunteer-led board. Sarah Thornhurst, from Bramley, has agreed to join and will bring journalistic, commercial and social media expertise to our board.

Editorially, we've been following local issues closely, such as the proposed housing development next to Rodley Nature Reserve which has caused much debate, and the latest on the TV Harrison ground saga in Wortley. 

We've also shone a light on new groups such as the Friends of Farnley Park and BrArmley women's book group, LGBT activites at Armley Leisure Centre and lots more. If you have a story or an idea, please drop me a line on news@westleedsdispatch.com.

Oh, and last (but certainly not least) I'd like to issue a very warm welcome to our new supporters. 

I always feel humbled when someone sees what we're doing and values WLD enough to become a supporter. Thank you for supporting us -both new and existing supporters - it means a lot.

Oh, and one more thing (at Lt Colombo would say) if you haven't seen it already, please do watch a video on WLD's work (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) which was launched earlier this year via the Public interest News Foundation. We're really proud of it.

Have a great summer and I hope to catch up with you soon.

•  - John Baron, Editor