It’s no secret that the residents of Brighton and Hove are not internet shy – nor are they shy about creating a blog or two. All this is great but seems to make my job a little harder…..

I had been searching for a good all round community blog in Brighton for a while and the problem was that it has just too many blogs to choose from – I was a bit overwhelmed! After much searching, sorting and reading I think have found a gem.

‘Unique to Brighton’ really does have a loads going on, and although it is not technically a blog it is fantastic community resource. Not only does the site list, photograph and explain all unique businesses that started out as Brighton and Hove specialists, but it has a pretty comprehensive News and Events Bulletin that does what it says on the tin and keeps a strong grip on all local goings - ons in Brighton and Hove.

Unique to Brighton started out in 2005 listing independent food outlets, and today it lists over 7 different types of business categories (impressive stuff). All the photos that accompany the listings are kept up-to-date and if you are looking to find something unique in the area then you can’t go far wrong with this website.

Currently they are campaigning with the Federation of Small Businesses to keep Trade Local in Brighton and Hove as part of the wider UK scheme. The aim is to raise government awareness in order to secure the future of independent shops in the UK. This isn’t the only local campaign that they are behind others include Real Nappy Week, Brighton Frocks and Fair Trade Fortnight.

It’s great to see an independent site rocking local so well- keep it up!

When somewhere goes to such efforts to get their message heard it is always impressive. However Digbeth, in Birmingham has gone a little bit further and created a petition site aptly named ‘Keep Digbeth Vibrant…’ and their mission is to do just that inspiring. As you would expect from this indie quarter of the city their efforts are second to none and score top marks in the imagination stakes.

Keep Digbeth Vibrant is petitioning to save a local pub from having its famous outside music silenced. The Spotted Dog is a real community hub and the potential loss of the live music is causing great concern - understandably. However these locals are not ones to sit around feeling glum – oh no, they are taking action and getting themselves a lot of attention. They have re-created their own spoof of the Stella Artois Advert, and I think that their re-make came out really well considering that they used only a digital camera and ‘a few bottles of Keep Digbeth Noisy wine’ to create their masterpiece.

I was sure that I had even seen the original advert when Dan pointed this site out to me, but after watching the video, it was such good quality that it reminded me that I had seen the original (good filming skills). Digbeth has done a great job of catching people’s attention and their community’s passion is fantastic!

Enjoy!

I have taken a little break from talking about community sites lately, but I came across this gem and now I am defiantly back with something to share. Shout Luton is a ‘free thinking independent guide to the town of Luton’ - and it’s pretty damn good one at that. The beauty of the site is it is not affiliated with any other company or newspaper, so is an open project for the community, town and tourists alike.

Shout Luton really is a fantastic community space, it’s bursting with up-to-date content about; special events, Luton news, political parties, local charities and links to churches and other religious websites in the area. Seriously that is only a fraction of info that this hub offers.

Did you know that Faye Tozer of the legendary pop band Steps grew up in Luton? Also the first ever Domino’s Pizza to open in UK, did so in Luton – I didn’t until I checked out the local Luton trivia section. That’s right, this site even has a dedicated ‘local facts and trivia’ section – great for testing how local you think you are!

On a more practical note, this site puts many bigger websites to shame as it has so much info all in one place. It even ramps up some serious green credentials by being a one- stop- shop for recycling. It has a break down all of the places you can recycle in Luton. It also has some super useful links on where to compost in Luton or find a great photographer - local info that is invaluable.

If you want check out more about Luton then take a look at the site – or failing that if you want a more personal look at the town then check out the ‘Luton Bloggers’ section.

We thought we’d try something new -

We wanted to get to know a bit more about all the fantastic communities out there - find out what really makes them tick! So, we’ve handed over the reigns and let someone else fill our blog space, and our first community has done a fine job of just that. We caught up with the very fabulous crafter, designer and blogger Clare Nicolson, she chairs Glasgow Craft Mafia - the indie community that is stitching up a storm on the Scottish craft scene! Here’s what she had to tell us about her community.

Hi Clare, please could you explain to welovelocal.com who you are and tell us a little bit about your community?

I am the chairperson of the Glasgow Craft Mafia. The Mafia is interesting in that it’s a very local, grassroots organisation that celebrates DIY ethics, but it is also part of a wider international community! A community within a community, within a community if you like! The Craft Mafia is an international collective of independent business owners. It was founded in Austin, Texas in 2003, and now has branches operating across 42 cities and across multiple creative disciplines to promote new-wave craft. The Glasgow branch is the first of its kind to open in Scotland!

What type of things does your community get involved with, both online and offline?

The Glasgow Craft Mafia has a pretty strong online presence. We use our website as a tool to share info such as our market events, our social gatherings and our craft tutorials etc. The site also functions as an introduction to our members and to their respective businesses. The site is developing all the time. During the course of 2008 you’ll see the blog taking on a more prominent role, you’ll see how-to guides appear on there and we’ll be sharing many more stories and snaps of our adventures! We use social networking sites to keep in touch with each other, other crafters, Mafia fans and local people interested in what we’re up to. We have profile pages on Myspace, Bebo, Facebook and indie craft site Indie Public.

Offline we’re equally as active! The members of the GCM are dedicated to spreading the creative word via craft tutorials, sociable craft-alongs, public crafting outings, themed parties and of course, the seasonal Glasgow Craft Mafia Indie Market! Our craft tutorials will kick off this spring with sessions on knitting, cross-stitch and embroidery and we have a couple of exciting outings planned for the coming months too! We’re organising a vintage clothing shopping trip to Edinburgh and we’re off to visit the UKs quirkiest jumble sale in Sheffield once the weather has brightened up! We might even pop in on our extended mafia familia in Leeds and Manchester at some point! A big event in our ‘real world’ diary is our Indie Market. Our Spring event takes place on Saturday 15^th March at Hillhead Library (Byres Road, Glasgow), with another scheduled for 26th April. We’ll also be enjoying social afternoons at crafty country music event, [We Are] Fuzzy Felt Folk on the first Sunday of every month at Macsorleys, Glasgow!

What do you think is the secret to the success of your community?

The Glasgow Craft Mafia is great in that the success of the organisation is in the hands of each and every member. Everyone involved has a role to play in promoting the Mafia and everyone is itching to promote the concept of new-wave craft in our city and beyond! We have over twenty members now. With all those people comes a whole range of talent and expertise that’s crucial to the operation of the collective.

How is Craft Mafia received in Glasgow, does the wider community appreciate your work - does the city have a strong independent scene?

Glasgow already has a vibrant indie music and indie arts scene, so really it was crying out for someone to address the gap for a groovy craft scene! The Glasgow Craft Mafia seems to be fitting into the alternative community here very comfortably and as was our intention, our knitters and sewers and makers are working along side the city’s musicians, photographers and artists and they are operating in the same indie network of venues and businesses.It’s great! There’s set to be a lot of cross-over between disciplines I think.

Do you have a local for any great places in Glasgow?

If you’re looking to shop for the perfect handmade one-off – you must visit the Glasgow Craft Mafia Indie Market (obviously!) If you’re on the look out for some swish vintage clothes, time your visit to co-incide with the very lovely Pop Boutique event. However, if you’ve shopped till you’ve dropped and are really just after some sustenance, you might want to pop by Macsorley’s Music Bar on Jamaica Street for the best fish n chips in town! Mono also does a mean veggie burger and the tastiest hand-cut spicy fries! For a night on the town you might enjoy the country swing of [We Are] Fuzzy Felt Folk (seasonal, @ Nice n Sleazy) or the sizzling hot tunes at monthly club night, El Rancho Picante at the very cool Flying Duck (Renfrew Street).

So, what three tips would you give to other community leaders, or community websites starting out?

1. First of all I think it’s important when getting started to allow some time for ideas, structures and roles to develop organically, allow people the space to find their place within the group. It’s taken us a little time to strike the perfect balance, but now that we have, we’re set to craft up a storm!
2. Develop relationships with other organisations and be open to collaborative ideas. We’ve been lucky in that we’ve made some really wonderful contacts and now have some interesting opportunities to get our message out there in some interesting ways!
3. Bake cookies for group meetings!

Super big thanks to Clare and her awesome Mafia for talking to us, being so enthusiastic and sharing their lovely photos (to see more pics from the group checkout their flickr).

This post is a little different to my regular community offerings as the place that I found to share, simply had way too many great sites and community related things going on to choose only one. Hebden Bridge a small, yet perfectly formed and extremely cosmopolitan town located outside of Leeds, has seriously got it going on. Not only is the town considered to be one of the most independent places in the UK, but also the residents seem to be partaking a social revolution all on their own.

The town is one of the very few places in UK that is chain free, and the streets are literally littered with a wealth of independent, alternative shops and businesses. The community has come together and taken the initiative to make the area plastic bag free! Not only has Hedben Bridge got a rocking united community in real life, but the quality of its tight knit community is reflected in the amount of great quality community websites it has; Hebden Bridge Web and Hebden Bridge.com both offer great round ups of everything going on in the local area, local news and lots of info for visitors and tourists. To top it all off, it also has its own Hebden Bridge Radio to help facilitate keeping the local community well informed.

This town really has got it all - and its community website offerings are shining examples of how to keep a real life community connected through the web. Hebden Bridge - we salute you!

We have some cracking reviews for the local area too, you can check them out here.

Photo supplied by: Sidelong over on Flickr

The People’s Republic of South Devon is another great community offering, this time from south of the country. It ticks all the boxes for a great, well designed community focused site – plus it has some cool and quirky content. It screams independent and really reflects the vibe that is spreading through Devon of late. It is at the forefront of many ethical, environmental and local shopping initiatives and the site really reflects this buzz.

Post are all based around arts, environment or society in the local Devon area and is great source for keeping yourself informed about more unusual local events and musings. The site aims to be a place for people to have their say and voice their opinions about things going on in the local area. It has links to other great sites in Devon, it also boasts its own podcast, t-shirts and local jobs pages. An all round community winner!

With Fairtrade fortnight underway it is impressive to hear that so many places in Devon have achieved fair-trade status - take a bow; Teignmouth, Exeter, Bideford, Newton Abbort, Dawlish, Crediton, Barnstableand Travistock. It would appear that South Devon is pretty switched on and I know from spending a considerable time that way that it really does have a super cool independent scene.

It being Valentines and all I thought I would post about an area in the country that gets a lot of love on welovelocal.com – Birmingham. The site Created in Birmingham has got me pretty excited this week as it is all about the creative community in Birmingham. It aims to be a space to showcase some of Birmingham’s best creative talents and events. However the blog has a double identity in that it also aims to demonstrate to people in the creative community how the utilize internet, and in particular blogs. The aim is to create buzz and engaging conversation within the community.

The site provides a great overview of all that is going on within the creative community in Birmingham and keeps other creative peeps in the know about galleries, events and meetups. It is also on the shortlist for the Media Guardian Innovation Awards 08 - though, I know this through reading the blog not the Guardian.

If you’re a budding creative talent in Brum you can drop the editor Pete Ashton an email and tell him what you’re up to and what you do, and you may have a chance of being featured on the blog, failing that there is always an updated ‘News River’ that gives you the lo down on good links and news for the area.

You may well have noticed the big orange arrow on the picture? That is in fact Dan’s dad in all his younger glory - this was a total coincidence, I was posting about the site and Dan caught a glimpse of my screen and informed that the picture was of his dad?! Incredibly random - but hey, that’s what happens when you have super famous parents right?

This really is a blog that requires no introduction, but I had to give it a mention here in my plight to give coverage to great community blogs. Manchester really is a hub of active communities and city enthusiasts – it’s quite overwhelming. Not to mention the growing number of city bloggers landing book deals – they must be doing something right!

The Manchizzle blog focuses on the best of Manchester’s culture, arts, festivals, events and blogs. It would appear that Manchizzle really is a centre for all Manchester blogs. The blogging community really is so strong in this part of the country - I am not kidding, I haven’t seen so many blogs in one city outside of London before.

If you fancy an inside peek at Manchester’s best cultural bits then this is blog for you, or failing that if you are a blogger in Manchester and feeling a little unconnected this is definitely the place to make some local blogging friends as it’s filled with links to the city’s best blogs.

Liverpool Stories is the latest community blog to grab my eye, and when I say this it really did. I was glued to my computer watching video after video on the site for quite some time, it’s really is inspiring stuff. As a Liverpool community based broadcasting website it creates so much varied content about the city it’s impressive, and all the content is created by people living in Liverpool and Mersyside.

Through stories and videos, the blog it creates an in depth cultural look at the city and the people that make it what it is. The videos focus not only the people of the city but also arts, history and events in the local area. The films are amazingly well made and really capture the essence of Liverpool and its community. I loved the ‘Ice Cream John’ video – John is amazingly passionate about his community, it’s so nice to see someone care so much about their local area.

If you fancy something a little rawer then check out Mobile Liverpool Stories, this site is the sister blog of Liverpool Stories and all it’s photos and video footage are shot from mobile devices. Both sites are well worth a look - a real inside look at a fantastic city and its cultural make-up.

If I mention Blackpool many think ‘tired seaside town a long way up North’, however whatever Blackpool may lack in fresh paint it really does make up for it in a very slick community site. By the Lights blog looks at all things Blackpool, from local events, articles and news to listing local Blackpool bloggers. Again, this is a prime example of a comprehensive first class community site. Trams, towers, donkeys, pleasure beaches, roller coasters Blackpool and By the Lights really has got it all!

I love local sites as they really do, do a great job of dispelling any myths that people hold about particular places because they are just so passionate. Personally I am a big fan of a Blackpool, as a former (very poor) Ballroom dancer the Blackpool Winter Gardens are the capital of the UK dance scene!

So, If you what to keep in the loop about what is going on in Blackpool this is the site for you. It includes gig listings, info on the local footie team and loads more – it is jam packed! If anyone else reads any great local community sites we would love to hear about them – maybe we could feature them on the blog!

Photo by Adam Mutum over on Flickr