YOUR local community newspaper is celebrating its first birthday.
The independently-owned title continues to be run by a team of dedicated volunteers who are responsible for every aspect of the publication, from writing the stories to distributing the paper and liaising with collection points across the district.
After beginning life as a four-edition pilot in March 2024, The Lichfield and Burntwood Independent has quickly grown to become a key part of the local media landscape, providing trusted news and information to readers.
Editor Ross Hawkes said:
“We really weren’t sure that we’d even make it through the four editions of the trial – after all, trying to publish a 32 page newspaper every fortnight alongside our Lichfield Live website, our day jobs and family commitments seemed a crazy idea.
“But as soon as we’d started getting copies out and about, we realised that there was a real appetite for a local newspaper.
“We quickly boosted the number of copies we print to try and meet demand, but our collection points are always asking if we can print more – and there’s plenty of other sites asking if they can stock it too.”
The success of the newspaper is now allowing the team to look to the future as they bid to create a sustainable publication that can continue to serve up trusted local content every fortnight.
Ross added:
“We are so thankful to everyone who has supported us, particularly those advertisers who appear on these pages. Without them, there would be no newspaper.
“We could easily double or even treble the number of copies we print, such is the demand – but every copy comes with an additional cost so we have to make sure we can generate advertising to cover any increase in circulation.
“That’s why we’d encourage everyone to support the advertisers in our paper and on our website and tell them where you heard about them – and let other local businesses know about the paper and the fact they can get their message out to a committed army of thousands of local readers every fortnight.
“The Lichfield and Burntwood Independent’s launch has shown that even in a digital age, there’s still a need to connect with people who might prefer or only be able to access their news in a printed format. Access to such content, in whatever format, is important to community cohesion and engagement in local life.
“That’s why we’re proud that it isn’t our newspaper, but your newspaper. It truly belongs to our communities – and it’s why ensuring it has a sustainable future is so important to us.
“Thank you to everyone for the kind words and support over the past year.”
Details on where you can pick up a copy of the newspaper can be found here.
A brave and costly venture in an age of shrinking local papers. The quality and content is good with a quantity of photographs. One thing missing in the area is the Hatches, Matches and Dispatches information. Strangely this would probably prove an attraction.
I have enjoyed this publication, praise its producers and wish them continued success in the coming years. Newspapers are an enduring source of information much removed from the transitory phones and tablets.
Bravo! ♥