Our team of journalists, photographers and sales staff have enjoyed working in a number of venues across the south-west today meeting readers and community members.

Our journalists and reporters have been following up story suggestions – some have already been published online and others will feature in Thursday’s print edition of The Standard.

Thursday’s paper has a strong community influence, including an important update on the campaign to establish a residential rehabilitation centre in Warrnambool.

A portion of proceeds from Wednesday’s sales will be donated to our charity partner, Warrnambool’s Rotary House, which provides cost-effective accommodation to families and patients accessing facilities at Warrnambool Base Hospital and the regional cancer centre.

Today’s initiative aimed to bring our staff closer to our audience and strengthen connections with the community.

The activities, which have included live Facebook videos from staff in the field, will not be one-offs.

Our staff will continue working closely with communities covering the stories that matter to them.

We would like to thank the venues that hosted our staff – Pavilion Cafe and Bar, Brightbird Espresso, City Memorial Bowls Club, Warrnambool Bowls Club, Deakin University’s Brother Fox Cafe, Warrnambool Livestock Exchange, The Hub in Port Fairy, Koroit Bakehouse, Mortlake’s Olivine Restaurant, Camperdown’s Loaf and Lounge and The Little Acorn Cafe in Terang. We would also like to thank those people who took the time to come along and chat with our staff and those who shared their thoughts on social media.

Check out how we celebrated community journalism day below.