How The Court Circular began...
The Court Circular was founded by three friends who live in Molesey. Janine Macqueen, born and bred here, Kim Craig - a resident and community champion of seventeen years (both Janine and Kim are on the Molesey Carnival committee) and Lucy Donoughue, a relative newcomer who has been living in the area for since 2015, but still very much in awe of the community spirit in and around the Court.
The idea for the magazine first came about over a glass of wine (or three) in late summer 2020, following a conversation about the brilliant ways our local community responded to news of the pandemic. We wanted to help those who had helped others, to find a way to support the small businesses who’d been hit the hardest by restrictions, and to showcase the amazing community projects and activities who were still finding ways to connect people and keep them well.
Our idea was to create a bi-monthly magazine that would provide a platform for all the wonderful people, places and happenings in and around the Court. We agreed that our focus would be upon community, culture, cuisine and creativity and we wanted the magazine to be free, beautiful and a great read.
Lucy, Janine and Kim
Over lots of excitable Zoom chats in lockdown 2.0, we developed this idea. The Court Circular was to be a place to positively promote the efforts of community groups and small businesses in the local area. A celebration of what is amazing about this place we collectively call home.
And so, The Court Circular was born!
We run, edit, design and organise The Court Circular's distribution in pockets of time around our day jobs. We also have fantastic ongoing support from Orin Carlin (features writer), Alex Riley (food reviews and small business features) and Lisa Tolley (illustrations). The feedback we all get from readers makes it so worthwhile, especially when we hear about connections made, small businesses receiving sales and conversations about collaborative working started as a result of the magazine.
The Court Circular journey continues...
The Court Circular continues to evolve and grow. Janine and Kim remain at the helm, while Lucy has become a local business owner herself with Green and Lovely Independent Store on Bridge Road and although no longer the Editor, she remains a close supporter . We continue to work on growing The Court Circular’s social following too. We want this space to be a constant supportive community, echoing the work of the magazine.
We're now a CIC (Community Interest Company) and we've been able to donate to Broken Biscuits Animal Charity, Molesey Night Shelter and The Royal Oak Defibrillator Fund, thanks to community supported fundraising initiatives.
Ways you can get involved with The Court Circular
You can help by…
● Joining our community on instagram and sharing
● If you’ve benefited from the magazine in any way, please send a testimonial to hello@thecourtcircular.co.uk - this could help us with funding applications.
● If you’re able to, advertising with us ensures that we can print the magazine for the time being
We hope that explains a little more about how your community magazine came about and that that we’ll be producing The Court Circular, with your support, for a long time to come!
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
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