Write about where you live
17 things we ask about. Pick the one that happened and answer its questions — there is no blank page.
Where I live
A Problem Where I Live
A pothole, water supply, garbage, drainage, streetlights, a stray danger.
Something That Got Fixed
A long-standing local problem that has finally been dealt with.
Something Changed Nearby
Construction, a new road, a shop opening or closing, a tree felled, a building coming down.
We Got Together and Did Something
A clean-up, a petition, a residents’ association effort, a protest, a repair people paid for themselves.
What I saw
Something I Saw Happen
An incident, an accident, a rescue, something unusual you were there for.
An Event I Went To
A festival, a public meeting, a performance, a match, a procession, a protest.
People here
Someone Worth Knowing About
A neighbour, a teacher, a shopkeeper, a worker — someone whose story deserves telling.
Remembering Someone
A tribute to someone the locality has lost.
My own
Something I Achieved
An exam, a competition, a qualification, a record, a long-held goal.
What I Do
Your trade, craft, profession or daily work — what it actually involves.
Something I Started
A shop, a service, a stall, a small business, a venture of your own.
Useful to others
How I Did Something
A practical thing you worked out — a process, a permission, a repair, a saving.
My Experience Of Something
A hospital, a school, a service, a government office, a journey — how it actually went.
Something Useful About Living Here
A route, a timing, a market day, a service people do not know about.
This place
A Piece of Local History
How a place got its name, what stood here before, something older residents remember.
A Local Craft, Dish or Tradition
Something made, cooked or practised here that is worth recording.
Something Worth a Photograph
One strong picture of this place and what it shows.
Where we will push back
Worth knowing before you start rather than after. These are the notes attached to the questions themselves.
- A Problem Where I Live. Describe the problem, not the people. Naming an individual official as responsible is an allegation an editor must put to them first — which is slower than letting the facts carry it.
- Something That Got Fixed. Give credit where it is due by name only if you are sure. "The ward office" is safer than the wrong officer.
- Something Changed Nearby. Say what you have seen and what you have been told, kept apart. Rumour about who owns what or who approved what is how these stories go wrong.
- Something I Saw Happen. Write only what you saw yourself. Do not name people involved in an accident or a crime, do not describe injuries, and do not say who was at fault — an editor will check with the police before any of that can run.