bbPress.org

@sdunning, you can simply add text to the Forums page, where you create your forums / sub-forums.
Add text the same way you do with Posts or Pages.

I think this should do it. It’s from my library of code and haven’t used it in a while, so come back if it’s not what you want

You’ll need to add it to your functions file

Functions files and child themes – explained !

//This function adds descriptions to the sub forums
function custom_list_forums( $args = '' ) {

	// Define used variables
	$output = $sub_forums = $topic_count = $reply_count = $counts = '';
	$i = 0;
	$count = array();

	// Parse arguments against default values
	$r = bbp_parse_args( $args, array(
		'before'            => '<ul class="bbp-forums-list">',
		'after'             => '</ul>',
		'link_before'       => '<li class="bbp-forum">',
		'link_after'        => '</li>',
		'count_before'      => ' (',
		'count_after'       => ')',
		'count_sep'         => ', ',
		'separator'         => ', ',
		'forum_id'          => '',
		'show_topic_count'  => true,
		'show_reply_count'  => true,
	), 'list_forums' );

	// Loop through forums and create a list
	$sub_forums = bbp_forum_get_subforums( $r['forum_id'] );
	if ( !empty( $sub_forums ) ) {

		// Total count (for separator)
		$total_subs = count( $sub_forums );
		foreach ( $sub_forums as $sub_forum ) {
			$i++; // Separator count

			// Get forum details
			$count     = array();
			$show_sep  = $total_subs > $i ? $r['separator'] : '';
			$permalink = bbp_get_forum_permalink( $sub_forum->ID );
			$title     = bbp_get_forum_title( $sub_forum->ID );
			$content = bbp_get_forum_content($sub_forum->ID) ;

			// Show topic count
			if ( !empty( $r['show_topic_count'] ) && !bbp_is_forum_category( $sub_forum->ID ) ) {
				$count['topic'] = bbp_get_forum_topic_count( $sub_forum->ID );
			}

			// Show reply count
			if ( !empty( $r['show_reply_count'] ) && !bbp_is_forum_category( $sub_forum->ID ) ) {
				$count['reply'] = bbp_get_forum_reply_count( $sub_forum->ID );
			}

			// Counts to show
			if ( !empty( $count ) ) {
				$counts = $r['count_before'] . implode( $r['count_sep'], $count ) . $r['count_after'];
			}

			// Build this sub forums link
			$output .= $r['before'].$r['link_before'] . '<a href="' . esc_url( $permalink ) . '" class="bbp-forum-link">' . $title . $counts . '</a>' . $show_sep . $r['link_after'].'<div class="bbp-forum-content">'.$content.'</div>'.$r['after'];
		}

		// Output the list
		return $output ;
	}
}

add_filter('bbp_list_forums', 'custom_list_forums' );

Great – glad you’re fixed !