Four Decades of Swindon Link Magazine

Delivering positive community news over four decades
by Roger Ogle, founding publisher and editor of Swindon Link magazine

Four Decades of Swindon Link Magazine
For a free magazine to survive for forty years is rather an incredible achievement.

It all started in December 1978. An 18 page un-named newsletter appeared through the doors of the 500 houses occupied in Toothill and about 50 in Freshbrook. Resident Geoff Richmond had put it together. He then distributed the publication door-to-door with his wife Kathy. She pushed a pram with their baby daughter on top and the loaded tray below.

Meanwhile, I started work for Thamesdown Borough Council at the beginning of 1979 as the Community Development Officer for the ‘western development’. So I involved myself in coordinating the production of the second and subsequent editions.

A competition in the first newsletter asked for a masthead and the second edition, in early 1979, bore the title Toothill Link. The place name was soon dropped as distribution grew to include the other distinct urban villages built across the west, such as Westlea, Shaw and Roughmoor.

A fast expanding community

In a fast-expanding community, communication is essential so that people know what’s going on around them and encouraged to get involved. For eight years The Link appeared every 8 weeks, produced by a small group of volunteers coordinated by myself. This was the pre-computer era when e-mail was still science fiction to the majority of people. We typed stories on paper then cut and pasted onto layout boards with the help of a ruler. We made headlines with Letraset stick-on lettering. Photographs were a rarity. For the first few editions volunteers hand stapled the pagees together before distribution by more volunteers. It was all very primitive and the appearance crude by today’s standards.

But The Link soon became a point of reference for West Swindon. It promoted the area with a distinct identity, to get away from the idea of the ‘western expansion’ as it was first known. The newsletter never missed the opportunity to remind readers that in 1984 Link Centre took its name from the newsletter.

By late 1986 it was clear that publishing only eight editions a year was inadequate. Further, that volunteer distribution to more than 8,000 homes was not sustainable. Another 3,000 homes were planned to the west of the town and plans for expansion to the north were taking shape.

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Making a leap of faith

With little business sense and no formal journalism experience I, with support from my wife Ruth, took the fateful and risky decision to leave a secure job at the then Thamesdown Borough Council. The aim being to publish The Link as a monthly from April 1987 with the original objectives:

• It be available free of charge to every home in its target area
• To provide local news and information about schools, churches, charities and community activities across the town
• Be a place to promote opportunities to get involved and help groups and charities
• Celebrate the efforts of people to build their communities, as well as making connections with those in other countries.

Advertising was always crucial. Apart from small grants to fund the first two newsletters, every publication since March 1979 paid for itself. I called it a virtuous circle: being a vehicle for business promotion alongside news and information trusted by readers. They in turn responded to the advertising which sustained the publication.

Without doubt hundreds of small businesses were assisted in establishing themselves because of this reader support. It was a great responsibility to help the entrepreneurs who only advertised in the magazine to attract customers.

In 1994, with commercial possibilities in mind, we expanded into Haydon Wick ready for the first houses of the town’s northern expansion at Abbey Meads. By 2014, the print run had more than tripled to 27,000 a month.

The free delivery model

I admit to being ever surprised that the free delivery model continued to be successful for so long. Yet I was aware that The Link would only be attractive if we sustained the quality of the product.

Over the years, people started rival publications seeing it as an easy way to make money. But they didn’t understand the unique features of The Link. Nor the sheer hard work required to create an appealing product month after month. In all the years it’s been going, I’ve not come across another local publication with such a high level of editorial content being delivered in such large numbers free of charge.

New technology and the world wide web

More by luck than judgement The Link came into being at a time when new technology and major changes in publishing made it easier to produce a local magazine. We were one of the early adopters of desktop. Then we published on Apple computers in 1988 to allow in-house control of production – the first in Swindon to do so. We were also the first to utilise the flexibility provided by digital cameras. By a couple of weeks, swindonlink.com was the second business in Swindon, in October 1997, to launch a town wide website. As they came along we were also quick to get involved with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

In 2014, with retirement in mind, we were very pleased that Swindon businessman James Phipps recognised the importance of The Link to the town. He bought it and oversaw the launch of further editions covering Old Town and south and east Swindon. Jamie Hill, editor since 2015, later took over the business.

It’s my belief that The Link always punched above its weight. Its success built on a high level of relevant editorial. Along with strong visual content, a passion for the community it serves, accuracy, absence of sensationalism and bit of wit for good measure.

Digitised archives

You can find digital versions of the Swindon Link magazine from 1978 to the present day here.

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The Swindon Link magazine today

Find the website of the 21st century version of Swindon Link magazine here.

And all the contact information you need:

For print editorial enquiries and submissions please contact: publisher@swindonlink.com or call: 01793 644540.

To find out about advertising options please contact Rosy Presley or Dave Stewart. Email: advertising@swindonlink.com or call: 01793 644540.

Swindon Link, Positive Media Group, Suite J Fairvew House, 43 Bath Road
Swindon SN1 4AS

Editor: Jamie Hill – jamie@swindonlink.com