Why membership?
Membership has always been a part of the Greater Govanhill patchwork fabric since its inception. Being a member of Greater Govanhill means that our magazine can stay independent and away from the prying claws of industry big-wigs. Of course, membership is not a new concept in the contemporary media landscape with many broadsheets and special interest publications sitting behind a digital paywall. However, what makes our membership model different is that our quality-driven journalism has and always will be free to read. Instead, a membership gives people a say in the future direction of the magazine and keeps the magazine free in solidarity with those who may not be able to usually afford top-quality journalism.
What have we achieved with the support of our members?
Having launched about two and a half years ago, we have now published six issues of the magazine with a seventh to be released this summer. We began with one person working on this in a voluntary capacity and we now have four part time staff - who work alongside all the brilliant community volunteers who contribute to the magazine. This means that we are now sharing more stories than ever before.
Through the monthly membership fee we receive from our 160+ members, we have been able to grow our team and have seen the quality of the magazine go up and up. We’ve also expanded our work to include radio shows and training programmes for people with typically underrepresented voices in the mainstream media; most notably our recent work with our Sound of Refugee Voices radio show and Young Voices group.
Why should I become a member?
Becoming a member of Greater Govanhill magazine means that we can continue to be an independent voice that is run by and for the people of Govanhill instead of being reliant on big companies funding us and telling us what stories to tell. An investigation by our friends at The Ferret found that the vast majority of Scottish news titles (including most local news outlets) are owned by media conglomerates and billionaires with many based hundreds of miles away in London.
For as little as £3 a month (or 75p a week) you can help us to continue to operate as a not-for-profit community interest company, with a commitment to invest any profit we make right back into the Govanhill community.
Having won six awards over the past year for, but not limited to, our quality of independent journalism, the impact we make, and work with refugee communities, we believe that our magazine has proven our commitment to independent and community-based journalism.
Like everyone, we have been hit by the current cost of living crisis with our most notable rising cost being printing, the price of which has increased by 10% over the last couple of months. Furthermore, we will always keep our magazine as a free pick-up as we believe in free independent journalism for all, especially in times of financial hardship.
Once becoming a member, you will have access to our members meetings where you can help steer the perspective of our magazine as well as be able to contribute to the magazine. We operate the membership model on a sliding scale with options to pay membership in solidarity for other members of the community. All members are the first to receive a copy of the magazine in the post, and updates from behind the scenes.
Where will my membership money go?
As a public-interest organisation who seeks to make our stories transparent. We also want to have total transparency on our funding model as well as having specific aims for finances raised so that members can see the benefits of our funding model.
Below, please find a handy infographic of our funding model to show our current costs and how our members fund this:
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Over the next year these are our specific aims for the magazine that we hope to be funded by our members:
Establish a permanent, public-facing office in Govanhill that will act as a drop-in centre for anyone who wants to share a story
Continue and expand upon our training programmes and workshops with different communities and continue to produce radio shows and magazine issues with these groups.
Redesign our website.
Launch monthly events where we bring different people together to discuss solutions to the issues facing the neighbourhood.
Sounds like something you could be interested in? You can become a member through the button below, it takes less than a minute to sign-up.