The Week on WalesHome.org: we’re going to need an extension

The Home is growing

WALESHOME is expanding, with three new associate editors coming on to the team to help us develop the site.

Katie Chappelle has written for the sites on a number of occasions and is also one of our new Sixth Columnists. A former broadcast journalist who worked for various radio stations in Wales and London before moving into PR, Katie heads up Warwick Emanuel’s Digital Media department, which produces films and podcasts for clients. One of Wales’ leading experts on digital media, Katie will advise WalesHome on audience building and other aspects of online marketing as well as bringing a much-needed feminine viewpoint to the site and its content.

David Melding AM was WalesHome’s first Sixth Columnist and his articles remain among our most read and commented upon. The Conservative AM for South Wales Central, Shadow Minister for Economic Development and the Welsh Conservatives’ Director of Policy, David has previously chaired Assembly committees and served as his party’s spokesman on Local Government and Public services. He is also the author of a number of publications, most recently Will Britain Survive Beyond 2020? He will commission new pieces for the site and will also act as a review editor of our content.

David Jones is also a time-served WalesHome contributor. A non-executive director for both Young Enterprise Wales and Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, chairing the trusts People, Places and Performance committee, he was previously managing director of Travelink Systems Limited, a Cardiff-based software company. Currently involved in investment, executive and non-executive management in software businesses, David will also commission and provide advice and support on the site’s commercial aspect.

The past two months have proved to be WalesHome’s best ever in terms of visitors and site interaction, and while we never really expected the site to have been so warmly welcomed, it is also important to us that we don’t stand still, and that we work to develop the site. As you can probably guess, Katie’s and the two Davids’ involvement is step one in a wide-reaching programme of improvements, change and expansion that WalesHome will undergo in the coming three months.

It’s an exciting time for us, and we really want you involved. WalesHome is not exclusive. We hope we’ve shown to you that the site is a debating platform, a place for people to come and discuss Welsh affairs and other matters concerning this country. We always welcome new writers with fresh ideas. You can see that from our list of contributors. It is not important to us that you have a track record. We take the view that experience isn’t necessary where comment is concerned, and some of our finest pieces – the pieces that have provoked you to comment – have come from writers that don’t have a CV the length of a titan’s arm or an entry in Who’s Who. It really is an open door policy.

If you would like to write for WalesHome, you can find the editors’ emails on here (just click on the “contact” links). We mean it when we say we look forward to hearing from you.

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