A free monthly newspaper for the Somali community has been launched in Bristol with help from the Evening Post.

Its aim is to "inform, educate and entertain its readership in Bristol and beyond on the principles of diversity, equality and mutual respect for all".

Editor Kayse Maxamed hopes the paper will inform a community which he says does not always have easy access to other media.

He said: "We will write about cultural and business issues in the community as well as entertainment.

"We also want to report on what the youth in the community are doing and bring news of what is going on back in Somalia and how people here can help the community back home.

"We will be publishing articles about immigration and how those already here can integrate into the Bristol community generally.

"I would like to thank the Evening Post and the journalists who have contributed for extending a welcoming hand to our paper. As a free paper it will be distributed to mosques, restaurants, hospitals and other local communities so we would welcome anyone willing to distribute and write articles."

The inaugural edition - written partly in Somali and partly in English - includes articles on the campaign to keep Ugandan asylum seeker Robinah Tamalie Senoga in Britain and the work by Sergeant Mark Runacres, of the Avon and Somerset Police, and his community safety team to increase people's confidence in the police force.

The South West Somali Community Association gives advice on employment and social issues.

Spokesman Ahmed Awale welcomes The Somali Voice.

He said: "It is better the Somali people have a newspaper in their own language. It helps them integrate into the community if they know what is going on. I think it can play an important role for Somalis."

Post editor Mike Lowe has vowed support and encouragement for The Somali Voice and sees similarities with the launch of the Post in the 1930s.

He says in an article in the paper: "We are delighted to support this venture by the Somali people in Bristol because we know how important a newspaper is to a community.

"It helps to bring together people with a common background. It helps to unite them and to give them a voice.

"Many of you may not realise but the Evening Post itself began in a similar way to your paper. Back in the 1930s, the Post was started by local people who wanted a paper for the city of Bristol.

"When the first edition came off the presses it bore the legend "The paper all Bristol called for and helped to create". It still carries that line in every edition today.

"Newspapers existed long before radio, television and the internet and remain the simplest and most effective way of passing on information among groups of people.

"So we understand what you are trying to do. We also sympathise greatly with how difficult it must be to acclimmatise to living in a different culture. But we hope that you will benefit from being here. Equally, we hope you will help to enrich our city. Bristol is a multi-cultural city and so many of us are proud of that."

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or
e-mail pastill@nep.co.uk