Free online community services
The Brookmans Park Newsletter offers a selection of free interactive features for the benefit of the local community
The Brookmans Park Newsletter offers wide range of free interactive facilities, including a business directory for local firms, a classified adverts section, a community forum, banners for local non-commercial groups, dozens of local walks to download and enjoy, and a rich collection of books and articles about the local history.
The site is free of any political or business links and the income from the adverts on the site goes to help alleviate poverty in the developing world.
Below is a list of the free tools available for all to use.
Before using our free services, please read our cookie policy to make sure you are happy with the way The Brookmans Park Newsletter works.
Active online forum
Join the local debates
We have a busy discussion forum where local residents are able to raise and debate local issues. The site gets more than three million page views a year.
Free registration
Registration is free of charge and it takes minutes to sign up for a new account. You can choose to post anonymously if you prefer.
Forum agreement
Please check the forum agreement, which appears when you register, to ensure you are comfortable with the rules.
Keep abreast of local issues
The latest headlines from the forum appear in the centre column on the front page of The Brookmans Park Newsletter, so you can always see what others are discussing and click to contribute to the debate.
Forum registration is free and you can be posting in minutes
Classified adverts
Unwanted goods and bargains
There is a classified ads facility for local, non-commercial transactions. You can add an item, or search around for a bargain. The latest classified adverts show up on the left of the front page of The Brookmans Park Newsletter.
Local and non-commercial
This facility is for getting rid of unwanted goods or seeking help. It’s not for posting commercial adverts or for seeking employment.
If you have a skill you want to share with the community, then the free business directory (details below) is the place for you.
A great way of getting rid of unwanted goods or picking up a bargain
Business directory
Local business showcase
If you run a local business, you need to be in our business directory. It’s been set up so that local companies can promote their services in the local community. Please feel free to add yours.
Your business on our front page
A random selection of two businesses in the directory appears on the left of the front page of the site.
In order to retain the local value of this service we are not allowing businesses from outside the immediate area — which covers Brookmans Park, Little Heath, Bell Bar, Water End and Welham Green.
Promote your local business in the local community
Calendar
Share your local, non-commercial events
We have a local events calendar for local non-commercial community events. This is linked to the forum, mentioned earlier, so if you want to post about an event, register for a free forum account and let people know about it.
Let local residents know about your local community events
Banners
Free banner ads
We display banners for local non-profit community groups. Details about how the banners work can be found here. The banners appear in two locations on the front page of the site.
Send us a banner and we will do the rest
All you need to do is create a banner (468x60), copy the link to your group’s website, contact us using the contact us form and, once we have the banner, link and details, we will do the rest. The feature is also free of charge.
Banner advertising managed by us for you
Social media
Three ways to debate local issues
The Brookmans Park Newsletter is active on social media.
Our Facebook Page is growing in popularity and offers another way for local residents to discuss local issues.
You can post there, or simply ‘like’ The Brookmans Park Newsletter on Facebook and you will get updates to your timeline.
We are also on Twitter @bpnewsletter, and try to tweet about local issues and discussions taking place in the forum.
If you are local, please follow us and we will follow back those tweeting about local information.
Engage with other local residents in the forum, on Facebook or Twitter, it’s your call
Local country walks
Fancy some fresh air?
There are 50 walks in the local countryside on the site, all featuring local pubs. Distances range from 2.5 miles to 12 miles. You can print off maps and instructions and try them out. You can even download maps to your smartphone if you have the Map My Walk app.
Explore the local countryside using our free, downloadable maps and directions
Local information
A local library free of charge
We have more than 20 local history books and 40 history features in our history section.
Our local studies section includes some valuable resources for local school pupils taking part in their local studies (Note for students: Remember to source all your material — it might earn you extra marks from the teacher).
Travel and weather
Our front page displays the latest train and travel information in the left column, and we have the latest weather reports for the area in the centre column.
Learn more about the village, it’s history, keep up to date with travel details and check the weather
Feedback
Content created for the community by the community
We hope you enjoy using The Brookmans Park Newsletter. The slogan is “Content created for the community by the community”. And we want to keep it that way and encourage open, robust and constructive local debate.
Please do make sure you read our cookie policy and check our site’s editorial guidelines, the wording of the forum agreement, and our privacy policy — we want to make sure you are comfortable before using the site.
About us
The Brookmans Park Newsletter is politically independent of any party and is free from any business control or interests. It is run by volunteers who pay for its upkeep from their own pockets and through the generosity of The Positive Internet Company which has been serving the site, free of charge, since we launched in 1998.
Contact us
Again, if you want to contact us about anything to do with the site, please use the contact us form.
Let us know what you think, it’s a community site and your input is important
Thanks