Sloane Square – contractors laying down new paving stones ©Maria Speller
We are delighted to present the first edition of Local Lens Magazine, Our Habitat. This magazine is the result of a community-led project in which residents of London Hammersmith & Fulham borough became the reporters, photographers and visual storytellers of their own neighbourhood.
Through training, mentoring and collaborative editorial support, participants researched, photographed and wrote stories that matter to them, demonstrating that powerful journalism can be created by local people with lived experience.
People maintaining and planting in a historic garden, volunteering to preserve a
shared green space. West London, May,2026 © Daniela Guarino
The theme of this first issue, Our Habitat, emerged naturally from the participants’ interests. Their stories explore the environment in its broadest sense from green spaces and biodiversity to the places, communities and local issues that shape everyday life.
This is an incredibly rich first edition of the magazine, which you can read online directly on our website or pick up locally at the library, NHG offices in W3, and selected shops on Askew Road.
Place of our Sanctuary Food Bank, 84 Lillie Road, Fulham, London, SW6 1TL,
Phone: +442073815366 (ENGLISH), +447958232863 (ESPAÑOL)
Email: Admin@placeofsanctuary.org ©Michelle Conway
Local Lens is part of our wider vision to create a community newsroom, bringing together local reporting, documentary photography and visual storytelling produced by residents. Through this initiative, we are developing a platform for photo stories which focus on stories that matter to residents, training and supporting local residents, photographers and journalists, amplifying underrepresented voices, providing a space for connection and well-being, and investing in citizen-led photojournalism.
If you would like to get involved, we would love to hear from you! No previous experience is necessary. We provide the training, mentoring and editorial support needed to help participants research, report, write and photograph stories to a high professional standard. We warmly welcome new participants to join us.
To book a place and be involved, join us here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/local-lenses-tickets-1982170924594?aff=
