Why our magazine matters…

Community magazines bring people together, they connect the dots between business, residents, community groups and services.

When I created About the Town magazine, there was nothing out there like this, and at the time of writing, there still isn’t. Our town was missing something, and I strongly believed I could fill a gap with a community and lifestyle magazine.

Magazines provide an escape from chaos, a break from social media, and a chance for people to learn something new. Our magazine offers just that, and more! I have lived and worked in Skelmersdale my entire life, and I have never seen a community and lifestyle magazine specifically focused on Skelmersdale before. I’ve seen magazines dropped in other communities surrounding Skelmersdale, but never one just for us. That’s why I believe our magazine matters.

Whenever we talk about what we cover in the magazine, we talk about how we only cover good news stories. I’m often asked why that is. Well, it’s an intentional choice because we believe there is enough bad news and drama going on, and we don’t believe that we need to add to that by writing repetitive stories that you can usually find out from the local newspaper, or more commonly, from social media.  However, with that in mind, we don’t disregard important issues either. We ensure that we find the positive aspects of that issue / story and make it more about finding / celebrating a solution rather than focusing on the problem. We want original news stories, and fresh uplifting content that may ignite inspiration.

We always aim to support and help raise awareness of our local social enterprises, charities and CIC’s. This gives them a chance to highlight the key services they offer, which can often be diluted in our local newspaper due to the sheer volume of information they provide on a weekly basis.

Our magazine is circulated quarterly, it’s great quality and handbag friendly.  Our aim is that you find it interesting and useful enough to keep on your coffee table or magazine rack. If we cover something important, we aim to dedicate at least one full page to the topic. Overall, we ensure at least 55% of our magazine is content including local stories, health and wellness articles, puzzles, competitions and even a touch of travel inspiration.

We allow 45% of our magazine to be used by local businesses as an affordable way to advertise. We are a community interest company ourselves, and whilst we have running costs, we do not make a profit from advertising in the magazine. This means we can offer a much more affordable way for businesses to advertise.

We have seen amazing support for our magazine since we started, and it shows us that there is a need for what we do. We welcome suggestions on how we can improve and are constantly reviewing our magazines to make sure we are giving you the best we can give.

With Coronavirus causing so many issues, unfortunately we have had to stop door to door deliveries temporarily. We may or may not re-introduce these, we really are just playing it by ear and seeing how things change over the next few months. As always, we will keep you up to date on this via our social media and email communications.

However, one thing we are certain of is that we are not going anywhere! As long as you’re reading it, and businesses continue to use us for their advertising, we will continue to provide Skelmersdale with their very own community and lifestyle magazine!