About Deeside.com
Launched in 2014, Deeside.com is an independent online news and information website serving those towns and villages in Flintshire which lie close to River Dee in North East Wales and the border with neighbouring Chester in England.
These include Connah’s Quay, Shotton, Queensferry, Aston, Garden City, Sealand, Broughton, Bretton, Hawarden, Ewloe, Mancot, Pentre, Saltney and Sandycroft.
With a population is around 50,000 Deeside has undergone a phenomenal rebirth and success in the last three decades.
The community was left reeling in shock following devastating job losses in core industries such as rayon mills, coal mines brick and steel works.
Deeside’s darkest day came in February 1980 when British Steel axed 6,000 jobs at Shotton Steel in what was described at the time as the largest-ever mass redundancy in western Europe.
Some neighbourhoods suffered 25% male unemployment, the community was scarred, families came under pressure and many fell apart.
Deeside has since reinvented itself as a national hub for advanced manufacturing, providing high-quality employment not just locally but to people from across North Wales and the North West of England.
Deeside Industrial Park, located on the north bank of the River Dee has given the area thousands of jobs in many different industries from construction to food production.
Deeside is also home to steel manufacturer Tata Steel, aircraft manufacturer Airbus and Toyota’s highly advanced engine manufacturing plant.
Our Role
Deeside.com aims to deliver nonpartisan and unbiased news to local citizens with a focus on social and economic issues, our wider aim is to develop community led journalism from a network of local contributors, anyone and everyone can get involved.
We are not funded by the council, government, or part of any larger media organisation our simple aim is to be sustainable, independent and deliver genuinely useful ‘news you can use’ to people in Deeside, Flintshire and the wider North East Wales and Cheshire area.
Deeside.com is read by thousands of people daily our social media channels @DeesideDotComon Twitter and DeesideNews on Facebook are lively and vibrant two-way platforms and form a key part of our story gathering.
Many people get in touch with us via social media to tell us the good, bad and sometimes the pretty ugly side of life in Deeside.
From breaking news about a collision on the A494 to dirty needles left in a park or a lost dog in Connah’s Quay and charity events happening in the area, the focus is squarely around news that matters to us all.
We are here to help tell your stories to our growing audience of engaged readers, stories which are relevant locally, of public interest, stories which promote transparency and dialogue and hold public bodies to account.
Feel free to get in touch if you have a story or idea or may wish to contribute in some way. Email; jonathan@deeside.com
