The Solent Metropolitan is an independent, grass-roots media platform for the Greater Solent: Southampton, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, and the towns and villages connected by the Solent water on the central southern coast of the UK.

We champion the whole region, and both its cities equally: success happens when you're in good company. We're apolitical, self-funded and independent so not connected to any public sector organisation, and not a clone of a platform used elsewhere. We publish slow content: events, organisation listings, articles and ideas that take a deeper look over time, connecting people, places and projects across the region rather than chasing the news cycle.

The site is made and built here in the Solent, and its source code is open source, just like the public interest sites it takes inspiration from.

In this section

  • Our team - who is behind The Solent Metropolitan.
  • Our services - what we offer: an events guide, organisation listings, articles and the connections between them.
  • Editorial policy - how we stay impartial, accurate and independent.
  • Accessibility - how this site is designed to be usable by everyone.
  • Privacy policy - what data we collect (very little) and how we look after it.
  • Terms of use - open source code, copyright and using the site.
  • Contact us - get in touch.

Work in progress. Update:  Wed 9, Thu 10 September 2026:  More various housekeeping enhancements around the site, including new footer, before working on some major features. Plenty still to do, few bugs to iron out.