A 40-page monthly magazine, run entirely by volunteers, has become the first community publication to receive the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
The Goring Gap News, which covers the adjoining villages of Goring in Oxfordshire and Streatley in Berkshire, is distributed free to every household in its circulation area.
Run as a not-for-profit enterprise, surplus funds are distributed to local events and charities. It was set up in 1988.
The award was presented to editor Jennifer Bending, by the Lord Lieutenants of Oxfordshire and Berkshire, Hugo Brunner and Philip Wroughton.
Bending, who has been editor for five years, said the 5,000-circulation magazine – which has its own website – had become such an institution she was regularly asked for advice.
She added: “I’m often rung up and asked if I can recommend a plumber or an electrician.
“I was even once asked for the address of the Bulgarian Embassy and that of the Household Cavalry.”
Some 60 people, mainly retired, help to produce and distribute the GGN.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service was set up in 2002 to mark the Golden Jubilee. This year, 110 awards were made to groups and individuals
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