Z1401

Village Voice magazine for Bolnhurst and Keysoe

From: 1983

Typical contents of the magazines includes notes of the activities of organisations including the Parish Council and churches, weather notes by Richard Ledger (latterly) and many local advertisements and notices.This introductory text came with the set of magazines: VILLAGE VOICE – FINANCIAL DISASTER AVERTED We launched VILLAGE VOICE in July 1983 with some trepidation, not knowing whethere there would be much interest in a village magazine and having no idea how people would want to subscribe. We persuaded several people to advertise – which was something of an act of faith in itself. We ordered 2,000 covers in the hope that 50 to 60 per cent of householders would agree to subscribe. We delivered VILLAGE VOICE to every house in Bolnhurst and Keysoe with the message that it was a “free” issue and that we would be calling back the following month to ask for £1 from those who wished to take the magazine on a regular basis. We were somewhat surprised, to say the least, when we called back the following month and found that almost 90 per cent of householders agreed to subscribe. This was fine: we were very pleased with the response. But it was not until later in the year that it dawned on us that we would not have enough magazine covers to last us the Year – (Maths was never our strong point!) Not only that, but we had no money left to have any more covers printed. Therefore, after much deliberation, we asked the Parish Council for a donation to help us out. They agreed – and gave us £25 so we were saved. For our second year we decided that we should try to get more advertisers and, as our circulation was higher then expected, we were able to charge slightly higher rates. We were now fairly certain that we would be solvent for that year. Soon after this we entered our magazine into the “Village Ventures” competition organised by Bedfordshire Rural Communities Council and sponsored by London Brick Company. After being subjected to a couple of fairly strenuous interviews, we were invited to a reception at Stewartby and were awarded second place in the competition. Our prize was £100 and a silver-plated brick. We knew what to do with the £100, but were not so sure about the brick! So the “win” helped us financially and, by what we consider good housekeeping, we have managed, more or less, to balance the books ever since.

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BOLNHURST, parish magazines, weather