Formulating the idea
When NAG looked at producing their own newsletter, it was decided that it should be informative, easy to read (no silly looking fonts!), something that every reader could benefit from, even if it was only in a small way, and should be relatively cheap to produce.

MAKE IT AN INTERESTING READ! Sorry for shouting but many community groups lose the plot when it comes to content. No-go areas include articles about  poetry, cub/scout meetings, church jumble sales, etc. Create articles that reflect issues within the community that empower them to take action themselves. For example, include an article about Pension Credit and I'll bet some of your older readers apply for it. If they do and are successful, congratulations, your newsletter has had a positive impact on the community, reversing the tide of social exclusion. How about an article on bogus callers and how best to answer the door to strangers. Or how about including details of your local ward councillors so people can express their concerns.  A good article to have in a newsletter is a house price graph. Everybody likes to know how much their house is worth and it makes a good talking point at the hairdressers! In the NAG newsletter, the information is accessed from Upmystreet.com www.upmystreet.com. Simply type in your postcode and voila, a cornucopia of information about your neighbourhood. Then transfer the data into a spreadsheet, turn it into a graph and then copy into your newsletter.

Initially the newsletter started out as an extension of the minutes but in October 2002, we applied to the Mansfield South Area Assembly for funding and they agreed to fund the first two issues. So in May 2003, the first 'proper' edition of the newsletter was published, with just 8 A4 B+W pages, printed onto gloss art paper in booklet form (just like a proper magazine) by a company called Catford Print www.catfordprint.co.uk, based in London. 

Since then, funding has been acquired from the Nottinghamshire Community Foundation www.nottscommunityfoundation.org.uk to continue its production and purchase several pieces of equipment to assist in the production process such as a digital card reader.

Some of you reading this may criticise us for not using a local business, however Catford Print specialise in the production of booklets and are equipped to produce multi-page booklets in a short time with an excellent finish. Most notably though is the fact that they are one of the few printing companies who produce a price list (available to download from their website at www.catfordprint.co.uk). The newsletter is now (as of 2005) at 16 pages/900 copies, and currently costs £430 per quarterly issue including a 5% discount for cash with order and free delivery. There is no VAT as booklets are exempt.

Designing the newsletter
The newsletter used to be designed on an IBM Aptiva with just a 400mhz processor, 4GB hard disk and 192mb RAM, but is now created using a Toshiba laptop with Intel Celeron 2Ghz processor, 256Mb memory and 40Gb hard disk using QuarkXpress 4 for Windows which is quite expensive (but there is no reason you can't use other programs such as Microsoft Publisher).  The file is then converted to Adobe PDF format using Adobe Acrobat 6 Professional but a good, cheaper alternative is PrimoPDF www.primopdf.com and then burnt to CD and posted to the printers . Images and clipart are acquired from a number of sources. Images are either taken by a digital camera (in our case a Fuji Finepix 4700) or sourced from a website called FreeFoto.com www.freefoto.com or www.istockphoto.com. Please note that NAG asked permission first to use photographs from FreeFoto.com as they are covered by copyright. Just one more thing...DON'T USE LOTS OF SILLY FONTS!. Stick to the traditional fonts as the more elaborate they are, the more difficult they are to read and increase the chance of your newsletter going to an early grave.

Digital photographs - If you're getting funding for a digital camera to use in the production of a newsletter, NAG recommend you first take at look at the reviews at Steves Digicams www.steves-digicams.com then buy from Internet Cameras Direct www.internetcamerasdirect.co.uk. They offer cameras at fantastically low prices and offer a good service including an extra years warranty for just £20.

Clip Art - Clipart images were mostly sourced on an as-need basis by obtaining a 1-week subscription from Clipart.com www.clipart.com, at a cost of around £4.50 (price varies due to exchange rate with the USA). You even get e-mailed an invoice to put through the books. Alternatively, a good range of clipart (for example the Snowman and Santa Claus above) can be downloaded free via Barrys Clipart Gallery www.barrysclipart.com. Another good source of free clipart and photographic images is the Microsoft Clipart Gallery www.dgl.microsoft.com.

Advertising
The newsletter also acts as a vehicle for local businesses to advertise, with the monies raised being used to help run the group, paying for telephone cards (great for keeping phone costs down) and stationery, and also to support our wider  activities, such as the 'Important Numbers' fridge magnet.

Delivering the newsletter
One of the biggest problems we faced was sourcing one of those fluorescent delivery bags you see so many paper boys carrying. Despite many requests to local newsagents and the local newspaper, we were unsuccessful. Then after a long search on the internet, we found a company called Bolmoor Industries www.bolmoor.co.uk. who supplied us with a yellow fluorescent bag for less that £9.00 including P+P!