In the 70s and 80s Collingbourne Kingston had its own parish magazine- cum-newsletter, the Kingston Contributor. Like so much else in the village, its continuing existence depended entirely on the efforts and dedication of volunteers which, as always, makes such enterprises vulnerable to changing commitments, time availability and people leaving the area. In the early 90s many such circumstances coincided and the magazine stopped publication.
In December 1992, the PCC of St Andrews Church in Collingbourne Ducis decided to stop publication of its 'Collingbourne Ducis and Everleigh News'. A group of dedicated individuals from those two communities, realising the essential need for such a publication to inform and notify their communities, set about investigating the possibility of producing a magazine to serve their local needs. Their determination and hard work culminated in the first edition of the Collingbourne Ducis and Everleigh Courier appearing in February 1993. With the demise of the Kingston Contributor in 1995, the logical step of requesting that the possibility of including Collingbourne Kingston within the affairs and coverage of the Courier was pursued and happily agreed to. For the first year of our inclusion in the magazine our Parish Council paid an amount to ensure that every household received a copy free of charge. At its AGM in 1996 the Courier's constitution was amended to make Collingbourne Kingston full partners. Since then the Courier has been delivered free of charge to every household.
In the ten years since its establishment the Courier has become a valued and arguably essential ingredient in the cultivation of a sense of our wider community and a feeling of mutual interest amongst the three villages. It informs, reminds, takes us down memory lane, provides a soapbox for letter writers and even suggests what we may like to cook for dinner!
In 1998 a National Charities Lottery Grant was obtained for the purchase of a digital printer. The Courier makes this printing facility available to other village organisations. Remarkably, the modest charges it makes for such use, together with advertising revenues and the occasional donation, still enables the free distribution of the magazine to every home in all three communities without any need for outside financial assistance. Such an amazing state of affairs is, of course, only made possible by the enthusiastic and unstinting efforts of a team of largely hidden and unpaid editorial staff, typists, proof readers, printers, compilers and distributors.
Sadly, in 2005,the printer’s power pack failed in a spectacular manner and although The Courier had more than amply insured itself against such an eventuality it was of little use as ,despite not being all that old, a replacement power pack was no longer manufactured. Donations from several local charitable funds and villagers have,however,enabled the purchase of a new printer and the immediate future of the magazine has been assured.
