What started as a ‘what’s on’ guide providing a vital link with village life for people in North Nottinghamshire has grown into a thriving community newsletter with a waiting list for advertisers.

Every month 1,320 copies of the 28-page newsletter are delivered in the former mining town of Tuxford, Nottinghamshire, by a team of 40 volunteers.

Resident Irene Mowbray said: “My husband is housebound and The Tuxfordian helps us keep up with what is going on. I look forward to getting The Tuxfordian each month, and I’ve kept every copy for the past 10 years.”

Advertising ranges from small ‘business card’ insertions to full pages, and editorial articles include local interest features, local history photographs, tips on cooking and cleaning, reports on village activities – plus the ‘what’s on’ listings of events at the church and heritage centre which is how it all began.

The Tuxfordian was launched after a pubic meeting in 1996 to discuss improving communication in the area: in those days pages were printed on the school’s photocopier and individually stapled. In addition to the volunteer delivery team, the newsletter has a chairman, treasurer, secretary and editors. Members are elected at an annual meeting to which everyone who lives in Tuxford is invited.

Chairman Richard Groves said: “The advice we were able to get through Enterprise for Inclusion helped us to clarify our thinking about the way forward and how to increase production. The funding helped us engage a local person who knows the area well to spend three months identifying other strands of business, for example providing newsletters for outlying villages, and printing facilities and services for local businesses.The grant will also help toward providing specialist software and training.

“Ideally we want to end up with two full-time employees producing a high-quality newsletter - which we already have - and to strive to improve it and to deliver additional services to an increasing number of people.

“At same time, through another grant, we identified and acquired a better printer which has enabled us to go from A4-style to a more sophisticated format. We are very pleased with the way things are going.”