TWO and a half years ago, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph launched a scheme to recruit part-time correspondents. We were stepping into the unknown and had no idea whether such an operation would work.

The idea was to supplement our team of professional, full-time journalists who cover an area from Chorley in the west to Todmorden in the east and from the Ribble Valley to the Rossendale Valley, taking in the heartland of East Lancashire.

But we soon had our answer. The scheme worked beyond our wildest dreams. Many of our Community Correspondents - as we called them - came up trumps.

They were briefed to let us know about everything that made their communities tick, from church jumble sales to the burning issues occupying the minds of people in their areas.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph is not only here to report on murders, fires, accidents, courts, council rows and local politics.

We told our Community Correspondents that we wanted to cover anything that would interest our readers and that no event or issue was considered too small for our attention.

They took the message on board.

The Community Correspondent project is not something we simply dreamed up out of thin air.

We regularly speak to cross-sections of our readers and ask them what they want to see in their local evening paper.

We ask them what they like and what they don't like about the contents. A successful businessman will tell you there is a lot in the old adage, the customer is always right. We feel that way about our readers. The response that always comes back loudest of all is "We want more and more local news".

We are anxious to respond to that call and that is why we are keen to bring on board more correspondents to increase the size of our news gathering team.

We want to hear from people right across the area who are interested in keeping their ears to the ground and earning a little extra cash by joining our ranks on a part-time basis.

We consider ourselves to be an integral part of the community of East Lancashire. We owe our very existence to that community.

Many of our correspondents have found the work interesting as well as a supplement to their incomes.

SUSAN SUMNER is a young mum with two children and has a part-time job. But she finds time to provide a steady stream of stories from many of the villages in the Ribble Valley where community social life tends to be fairly hectic.

If there's a fund-raising event going on on her patch or a village hop, Susan wants to know about it.

She said: "It is nice to see your material in print and people in the smaller communities are delighted that events in their areas get publicity in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph."

JOHN VAUGHAN, who lives in Accrington and runs a record exchange in Blackburn, provides stories from both areas. He was one of our original Community Correspondents and he has been responsible for everything from paragraphs about country walks and church bazaars to full page features and front page lead stories.

A fascinating feature on spiritualism was from an original idea by John.

There is always a place for humour in a newspaper. And WENDY HAYDOCK who covers the Trawden area raised a few smiles when she sent us the piece about the demolition men knocking down the village loo who went off to a nearby pub for calls of nature. The landlord of the pub had been one of the leading protesters at plans to knock down the loos, claiming that he would be pestered by visitors to the village wanting to use his toilets. How quickly he was proved right!

Sometimes the experiences of Community Correspondents themselves make news.

EILEEN EASTHAM, one of our Darwen correspondents, went on the last cruise of the liner Canberra. When she returned she wrote a lovely feature for us capturing all the sentiment and nostalgia which swept over the great liner's last voyage. She was also able to provide us with pictures,

Our correspondents have also helped with Looking Back, staff writer Eric Leaver's fascinating weekly trip down Memory Lane.

TOM KENNEDY, the correspondent who usually covers the Lammack area of Blackburn, provided Eric with some great background material on the old oyster bars which used to flourish across East Lancashire. And Tom should know. His dad used to own one of them.

It was a good example of how a correspondent's own experience and knowledge can help to compile an interesting story.

BRIAN WOOD, who lives in the Revidge area of Blackburn, but whose job as an area sales manager takes him all over East Lancashire, helps to keep us in touch with the local band scene. Brian manages several bands and he also helped us out with review coverage of the Burnley Blues Festival.

SHEILA LIVESEY is a mine of information on events in Hapton and ALAN KILBURN of Padiham recently covered a meeting for us at which the manager of Padiham Baths outlined his dreams for the future of the centre.

CLIFFORD ATHERTON of Lowerhouse Burnley gave us the story about the nursery that ran out of kids and ALAN BINNS of Reedley provides a steady flow of news snippets from his area. Community Correspondents come from many walks of life. Most have full time jobs but find the spare time to pursue what they perceive as a satisfying hobby which pays a few bob. A few are retired and others are students, some hoping to take up a full time career in journalism. Age is no barrier.

IF you are interested in joining our team write to: Tony Carter, Community News Editor, Lancashire Evening Telegraph, High Street, Blackburn BB1 1HT, or ring 01254 678678 ext 227.

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