A NEW community blog has been launched for Bradley and Fixby to help engage with the community.

Bradley resident Howard Turner set about the project four months ago and is now keen to share his knowledge with other local communities.

Howard said: “I have always worked in IT and so when I retired I was looking for a new challenge.

“I wanted to create a website for a separate venture and so the bradleynews.org was born out of testing my skills.”

Since November Howard has met with other local people and the website is now filled with agendas and meeting dates as well as posts about current issues.

Howard has used his skills which he honed as an Information Officer with Kirklees Council to help get the best of the community.

He explains: “Bradley News is gradually moving to specialise in environmental themes because of the nearby Huddersfield Woodscape initiative.” Now Howard has established the site he is keen to help others to set up their own.

He added: “There is no cost involved and its quick to set up.

“Just go to wordpress.com and follow the instructions.

“Pick a ‘theme’ design that you like and follow the instructions and you’ll have your first post online in a couple of hours.

“There are good videos on YouTube to help you. You can also subscribe to get emails.

“You can then integrate the blog with Facebook, Twitter and other social media so they are informed whenever there a new blog post is published.”

Now the website is up and running he is embarking on working with Kirklees Federation of Tenants and Residents Association to further engage with communities.

Jackie Simpson, who is on the management committee, said: “The scheme is still in the final stage but the idea is we ask local TAs to leaflet drop their areas to encourage people to register for the free community texts.

“We are an umbrella organisation and have 90 tenants and residents associations in Kirklees.

“We have the potential to be able to connect with everyone in the community by using technology which is at everyone’s finger tips.

“It is part of our remit to help make communities safer and stronger.”

She said the text scheme will be discussed at the tenants and residents association’s management meeting later this month and if approved rolled out later in the year.