As you can probably tell from the fact that you are reading this – we have been given more funding!
Thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund we will be receiving around £90,000 over two years to continue publishing eight editions a year of the newspaper.
This is a reduction from the amount received over the last three years, and so we will have to carry out further fundraising. The central aims of this project will be similar to before, improving residents’ knowledge of activities, events and cultures in the area; enabling residents to improve their skills and confidence through volunteering and training, and bringing people together and to build stronger relationships in and across the community. All of which should mean that you won’t see too many changes to the Messenger you receive through your door.
We will still be working with local residents as volunteers, we will still be reporting upon the stories that matter to you, and will still be showing off the skills and talents of those who live in our wonderful ward. We do hope to try out some new ways of delivering content as well, so keep an eye out for our podcasts and vlogs!
We had been informed of the decision when the June edition of the Messenger went to print, but agreeing the details and our mutual responsibilities with the lottery meant we had to wait until October to finalise everything. It is annoying having to wait a couple of extra months to complete a deal that has already been agreed, but it seems better to do that and make sure everything is right, than it would be to rush into something without checking what might go wrong a little further down the line!
