A Little Less to Say – November’s Slim Edition

In the October edition of Camber Community News we paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. It was a moving edition of the newsletter and a stellar effort from the team to bring it all together so beautifully.

Little Changes

Perhaps you saw in my post A dedication to Queen Elizabeth II that we removed the advertisement from the front cover. That was not the only change we made to the cover. Every year, Rye Golf Club sponsors the production of the October edition, and they provide us with one of their stunning photographs. This year we had to change things up a bit. They were, of course, very understanding of the situation and agreed to sponsor November instead. Our readers were treated to a glorious picture of the roiling dunes and perfect putting greens on their doormats.

We assume it will be ‘business as usual’ at Camber community News HQ next year!

Smallest issue of the year

Our November edition came in at 20 pages. It is a bit of a running joke. We generally have around 22 pages of content to use and I then have to squeeze it into 20 pages or find two extra pages of content to print. Some years ago, when Camber Community News was printed on A4 copier paper and stapled in the corner, the editorial team didn’t have to concern themselves with printing in multiples of four!

Generally, we print 24 pages. Occasionally, we sneak up to 28 pages. We haven’t printed a 20 page edition since March 2021, I believe.

It was combination of things that led us to only having 20 printable pages at the time of publication. Two days prior I had a 24 page document ready to go. We had a double page spread that needed to fact-checked and reviewed by local officials before we could, in good conscience, print it. With the print deadline on top of us, we decided is was best to remove the entire article… and with it, some of the little extras bits we had put in. Two other agencies missed the copy and print deadlines, so we were unable to add them in.

The Silver Lining(s)

Of course the entire team is always sad when we aren’t able to produce as much as we want to. There is, however, a silver lining to putting out a smaller edition. As with any organisation, we do have to keep an eye on the purse. The cost of paper as risen over the course of the year, and our production costs are climbing as a result. In order to keep Camber Community News running, we have to do a lot of fundraising (which means I get to make a lot of fun posters!).

The sponsorship of the November edition was agreed some months in advance. Sadly, by the time it came around, it fell slightly short of the newly-increased printing costs. Keeping the extra four pages would have increased the production cost far beyond the means of the sponsorship.

Several of the delivery volunteers had a silver lining of their own… Their delivery bags were much lighter!

The Future of Camber Community News

The team behind the newsletter is strong. We regularly host fundraising evens like Prize Bingo, Quiz Nights, and seasonal fayres. Advertising space within the newsletter is a steady income, local businesses sponsor editions every so often, and we even get donations from the public. We love being able to provide the community with updates on local issues and interest pieces. Free access to the publication keeps it at the heart of the community – just where we like it!

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