The Covid-19 crisis has brought out the best in the Borough of Newham revealing a community with an abundance of resilience, solidarity and humanity.

The explosion of online support groups across the Borough in March and April created neighbourhood networks that saw hundreds of people and groups working together to support residents who need help during the lockdown.

But this once-in-a-lifetime health emergency has also revealed a gaping hole in the life of the community – the lack of a comprehensive Borough-wide news and public information service.

Now there’s a plan, when the crisis eases, to launch Newham Voices, an independent news service, to keep people connected and to provide everyone in the Borough with easy access to reliable and trustworthy information.

The new service will be available online with a monthly paper edition. It will be editorially and politically independent and organised as a non-profit entity.

The organisers, a group of journalists, activists and community leaders, say Newham Voices will create a much-needed safe information space to debunk fake news and give people useful and comprehensive information about life in the Borough.

The detailed feasibility study now under preparation says “Newham Voices will be a platform that empowers local residents and enables their collective voice to be heard louder and clearer.”

The idea for this community-led journalism project has been inspired by the Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz who last year launched a Citizen Journalism project linked to the Council’s Newham Mag, which is under pressure because of government cuts.

As the recent emergency shows, reliable and trustworthy information is not a luxury. People need access to the truth and information they can rely on at all times, and not just during a period of humanitarian crisis and tragedy.

Anyone interested seeking further information on the Newham Voices project should contact info@newhamvoices.co.uk

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