Brixton Blog

HELP US SAVE THE BRIXTON BLOG & BUGLE ARCHIVE! Link in profile.
For the past 16 years, the Brixton Blog and its sister paper the Bugle have celebrated Brixton in all its diversity and chronicled its heritage and its transformation. Founded by young journalists Tim Dickens and Zoe Jewell, the Blog & Bugle was passed on to Linda Quinn and Alan Slingsby, senior journalists with a lifetime’s experience in local news reporting. All believed passionately that an independent, impartial local news service was vital to the good of the community. In a digital age where print journalism is becoming unsustainable, they produced it without pay or any kind of funding.

Alan and Linda brought to the Blog & Bugle the highest of journalistic standards, creating a lively and diverse mix of in-depth investigative pieces, interviews, reviews, coverage of cultural events, history, architecture and sport. They gave the community a voice, got behind local campaigns and built a positive picture of a thriving community when the national press appeared interested only in reporting Brixton’s failures.

Linda passed away in 2021 and for the past five years Alan has almost single-handedly kept the Blog & Bugle alive – and to the same exacting standards as ever. Alan died suddenly on 28 January this year and, sadly, without his energy, skills and commitment, we are not able to keep it going.

Alan wanted to preserve, for the benefit of the community and future generations, the thousands of local stories, pictures and people featured in the Blog & Bugle over 16 years. With your help, we can make his vision a reality by repurposing the two platforms as a permanent living archive that would be accessible to all. This invaluable resource would be housed at Lambeth Archives’ Brixton HQ.

Reformatting the Blog & Bugle for this purpose will cost £3,000. To that end we, the trustees, have set up a crowdfunding page in the hope that the many readers who have enjoyed it for free over the years will donate whatever they can afford to preserve the archive into the future.

Thank you.

It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of Alan Slingsby, our editor. Alan died at home suddenly and unexpectedly - we believe of heart failure - on 28 January.

Throughout his life, Alan dedicated himself to impartial and high quality journalism, and as the editor of the Brixton Bugle and Blog he threw all his energy, skills and resources into building a unique and much-loved publication. Alan loved Brixton and worked tirelessly and selflessly to give its people a voice. He believed passionately in the importance of local news, written to the same exacting standards as the best in international reporting. He was principled, professional, conscientious and kind, and will be sorely missed.

We know that very many people will want to mark Alan’s passing and celebrate his life and work. His family and friends are still in shock and at this stage there are many practicalities to be dealt with, but we will provide an update as soon as we can. We have set up a tribute page on MuchLoved so you can leave messages of condolence here: https://alanslingsby.muchloved.com

Freezefest at Brockwell lido

The rain stopped and the sun put in an appearance for Brockwell Swimmers’ first Freezefest today (24 January). But the water in the pool was 7.8ºC, and the Met Office’s “feels like” temperature for Brixton was 5º,so it was not the day for a leisurely couple of lengths. Three hours of coldwater swimming included relays and some courageous performances … Liz Torode (r) celebrates winning the 100 metres 60+ race Organiser Brockwell Swimmers’ Tim Sutton

Freezefest at Brockwell lido The rain stopped and the sun put in an appearance for Brockwell Swimmers’ first Freezefest today (24 January). But the water in the pool was 7.8ºC, and the Met Office’s “feels lie” temperature for …