As we approach our eighteenth birthday—a milestone marked by countless memories, projects, and friendships built along the way.

For me, Paul, and Tristan, balancing the demands of work and family life has inevitably meant less time to dedicate to the blog and to attending events along the south coast. Combined with the wider shift from written blogs to video content, our own output has been a little quieter than we’d like.

At the same time, my enjoyment of social media—especially Instagram—has faded. What was once a space to share and discover inspiring photos from people I genuinely follow now feels increasingly cluttered with adverts and videos from accounts I never asked to see.

Despite this, we still firmly believe there’s a real appetite for written content, and that there’s an audience who value thoughtful coverage of arts, leisure, and culture across the South Coast. We’re also lucky to be surrounded by so many talented writers and photographers here in Portsmouth and beyond.

That’s why we’re opening our doors to collaboration. If you share our passion for these subjects, we’d love to hear from you.

Historically, Strong Island has focused on art, live music, photography, and skate culture, but we’re now looking to expand further—covering food and drink, fashion, travel, local sports, theatre, and many other topics our community cares about.

If this sounds like something you’d like to be part of, please drop me a line at stu@strongisland.co.