Does this look a little bit familiar?

It should do – it’s our first official sister site, over the border and up north, in Chester!

I met Angela Ferguson, who runs the blog, at a hyperlocal blogger / online journo event up in Wrexham a few months back. She’s a big fan of her hometown Chester, and felt like there wasn’t an online place that pulled together all the nice things that go on there.

This is Angela. Say hello!

And thus, We Are Chester was born!

Here’s what Angela says about setting up the site:
“I have always loved writing and meeting new people and was looking for an outlet to do that in the city that I am proud to call home – Chester. Through my day job as a journalism lecturer, I met the inspiring Helia from We Are Cardiff at a hyperlocal journalism workshop in Wrexham. At that point, I had been thinking about setting up a hyperlocal site looking at culture in and around Chester and meeting Helia and taking part in the workshop was a catalyst.

“I contacted Helia and she was extremely helpful and supportive, giving me her blessing to set up a sister site for We Are Cardiff, inspired by the great work it does. And so, We Are Chester was born! It gives me the perfect excuse to meet even more lovely people in and around Chester. I am thoroughly enjoying running the site and also writing for it.

“Chester is a beautiful city with an incredible heritage and a growing number of cultural events and activities. There are so many dedicated and passionate people and organisations working hard to make sure that culture thrives in our city. Through We Are Chester, I have met many lovely and truly inspiring people. We have everything from the nationally renowned Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre organised by theChester Performs organisation to open mic nights for musicians, poets and writers. A new cultural centre is also set to open in autumn 2016.

“These are exciting times for the city. Indeed, there is so much going on that I hope to get more people on board to write for We Are Chester in the future, so that we can spread the word about this great work. I’d like to develop the site by hopefully recruiting some keen photographers to record cultural events in the city and more writers keen to go out and dig out stories about what is happening. I’d also love to feature examples of people’s work, eg writing, poetry, short films, music. We’ve got so much to shout about and celebrate in Chester. If We Are Chester can play a small part in that then it’s all worthwhile.”

In addition to raising three children and running We Are Chester, Angela Ferguson is a journalist, writer, guest blogger for Chester arts organisation Chester Performs, programme leader and lecturer in journalism and media communications at Glyndwr University in Wrexham and a communications and PR consultant. She currently lives in Chester.

***

Sign up for the weekly We Are Cardiff newsletter

Check out what’s going on with We Are Cardiff Press