Become a Member of Greater Govanhill
The costs of producing our award-winning magazine continue to go up, but we are determined to keep it free for everyone in the community to enjoy. We never want to become a publication that is over-run by advertising, and so instead we’re asking for a little help from our community. Have you enjoyed the magazine so far? Can you spare £3, £5 or £10 a month to help keep us independent?
If we could reach 100 new members, that would set us on a path to true financial sustainability.
Over the next year with our membership support we want to:
Produce more journalism that explores the issues that matter to you.
Expand our team.
Continue our training programmes and workshops with different communities and continue to produce radio shows and magazine issues with these groups.
Redesign our website.
Run regular events where we bring different people together to discuss solutions to the issues facing the neighbourhood.
Why membership?
Membership has always been a part of the Greater Govanhill fabric. Being a member of Greater Govanhill means that our magazine can stay independent and away from the claws of big corporations. Subscription is not a new concept in the contemporary media landscape with many broadsheets and special interest publications sitting behind a digital paywall. What makes our membership model different is that our quality-driven journalism is - and always will be - free to read. We will never implement a paywall.
For us, membership is about more than just subscriptions. Our membership gives people a say in the future direction of the magazine and keeps the magazine free in solidarity with those who may not otherwise be able to afford the magazine.
What have we achieved with the support of our members?
Having launched about three years ago, we have now published 10 issues of the magazine. 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.
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. 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 from the communities they serve.
For as little as £3.50 a month (less than £1 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.
We have won six awards over the past year, through recognition that we are doing things differently.
Once becoming a member, you will be invited 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 at different levels 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.
Sounds like something you could be interested in? You can become a member through the below link, it takes less than a minute to sign-up.