New page turns for Heckington magazine team

Heckington Village Magazine ceased production in January when the management committee opted to close it after fifty years of publication.

Andy Mellett-Brown, who moved to the village three years ago, is a keen author while working for the Care Quality Commission. He stumbled on the announcement and asked around whether anyone was interested in forming a new group to save the magazine.

In very quick time, he was inundated with offers of help. He said: “Today, we have 45 signed up volunteers, including a full editorial team, designers, photographers, correspondents, advertising and sales people, and a full distribution team. I have been quite overwhelmed by the positivity of everyone involved and the wider community in Heckington and surrounds.”

The outgoing magazine committee was wound up on March 27 and the new group was elected to replace it with Mr Mellett-brown as chairman. He said: “While some of the group has experience of magazine production, it is a largely amateur (and entirely voluntary) group and we are starting largely from scratch. It will inevitably will take us some time to get to grips with the task ahead of us.

“We won’t be publishing until June this year. We will, for the remainder of the year and while we are getting to grips with the process, publish the magazine on a bi-monthly, rather than monthly basis, reviewing that next year.”

The team includes an experienced editor in Mark Emson, and an experienced designer, in Nick Unsworth. They plan to change and update content to broaden the magazine’s appeal, retitling it Heckington Living and upping the price to £1. They plan to develop an online presence and are looking into registering as a charity.

Andy said the award winning magazine is a tough act to follow: “Building on it is a challenge, but we are confident that we can improve and modernise the magazine.”