This is me at Two Birds Brewing in December 2014, feeling hopeful and delivering the first edition of The Westsider! It was a very small team of Derek, Eleisha and I dropping off bundles at our favourite haunts across the Inner West.
It’s now 2023 and this is the eighty-second edition, we’ve shared over two thousand stories by an estimated three hundred volunteers, across 500,000 printed papers.
2023 is the year of the Rabbit and I’m told it’s a year for Hope. So it seems appropriate that this edition celebrates new skills, learning and training, and the growing employment opportunities from big investment in the west including Sunshine Private Hospital which is envisaged to create more than 200 jobs. We also welcome new partners, the Bad Writer’s Club and the Community Bike Hub, and the first in an ongoing series of community profiles titled ‘Champions of the West’, provided by Daniel Mulino MP’s office.
It certainly feels like there is more hope on the horizon after the uncertainty and exhaustion of the last three years, and our team are forever grateful for your ongoing support.
Kelly Kayne
Founder
