The Blackwood Times

The Blackwood Times is a bi-monthly community paper put together by volunteers for the community of Blackwood, Victoria.
In the Mid 1990’s Robina Brown and Jinny Coyle were talking about communication and resources within the township of Blackwood. It was at this time that Robina decided to create a town newsletter and at the same time Jinny created a school holiday program for the children. The first iteration was a hand typed 2xA4 sheets stapled in the corner called “The Blackwood Newsletter”.  This was not designed for tourists and was purely designed to help the community feel connected. It was printed in Ballarat and there were 200 copies printed per issue, this included a town Calendar with everyone’s birthdays! 
After 2 years Robina bought a computer and with the assistance of Jinny a templte was setup on Publisher.

In 2008 Robina finished up and handed over the paper to Jinny, who kept with the format of the paper but changed it to A3 folded in the middle and the first edition was 20 pages! In 2001, ( Oct-Nov ) the calendar stopped due to more people moving to town and in 2013 the paper changed it’s official name to “The Blackwood Times”.

The paper was now in publication every 2 months and was a look back over he activities of the town aswell ad advertising and supporting upcoming events. In 2019 Jinny put out a call for a new team to assist and a new group was formed to take over, with the assistance of Jinny one episode was published however was subsequently handed back to Jinny to run with. In 2020 the pandemic took its toll on the paper with less to report on and less interaction however pushed through with many creative ideas. In 2022 Jinny once again called out a community assistance and a new committee of volunteers was formed as-well and a formal incorporation of the Committee allowing Jinny to pass the flag from decades of hard work on behalf of the town.

The paper continues to be run by the committee appointed in 2022 who continue to support the paper with time, effort and a tap on the shoulder to anyone that might have a story to publish. The committee and town are proud of the paper and it’s history and always invite articles, stories and photos to be submitted to the team.