VILLAGE VOICES
The local newsletter for Hollesley, Boyton, Capel and Shingle Street
9th December 2006

A village newsletter launched just a year ago to serve some of the Suffolk coast's most remote communities has beaten off competition from others across the county to scoop a top prize.

Village Voices celebrated its first anniversary in November, the month its editorial team learnt they had won a competition for the best newsletter serving villages of up to 1,500 residents.

Village Voices was presented with its award at a reception in Hollesley village hall on Thursday evening (December 7th) by John Barker from the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC), which organised the competition.  The award included an engraved glass trophy, which Village Voices will hold for a year, a cheque for £100 and a framed certificate presented by Cllr Rona Burt, chairman of  SALC Executive Committee.

Village Voices is distributed free to every household in Hollesley and the nearby hamlets of  Boyton, Capel and Shingle Street, although extra copies can be bought for 30p from the village shop by visitors and holidaymakers.  The cost of producing the monthly magazine is met by advertising revenue.

Members of Village Voices team
(back row, left to right) Laurie Forsyth, Isobel Lilley, Sue Stagg, Rob Claxton, Keith Burton and Mike Adams
(front row, left to right) Cllr Rona Burt of SALC, Helen Macleod (editor) and John Barker from SALC.

Editor Helen Macleod received the award on behalf of the editorial team. “We're delighted we've been judged the best newsletter in Suffolk in the face of strong competition from 40 other entries.  Although we're a small rural community we're blessed with an array of talent and there's great team spirit within the production team.  We also have a good cross section of ages and this is reflected in the wide scope of the magazine and its features,” she commented.  “We're also grateful to local businesses who've supported us from the beginning with their advertising and to a loyal band of volunteer distributors.”

Each month the newsletter carries reports from Hollesley village school, church news, the latest Shingle Street Coastguard call outs, profiles of local businesses, events at the youth club and pre-school group, local sports clubs, news items, readers' letters and a comprehensive diary of events.