Magazine gives out £17,400

THE organisation which produces Goring’s monthly magazine awarded £17,400 to community causes over the past year.

The Goring Gap News Association donated £3,000 to the organ rebuild fund at St Thomas’ Church in Manor Road.

Another £2,600 went towards emergency tree surgery at the Withymead nature reserve off the Ridgeway path.

This was unexpectedly needed in December as 16 trees were either dead or dying so posed a hazard to the adjacent railway line.

The reserve’s trustees weren’t expecting this expense so were thankful for the help.

The association spent £1,800 having its magazine delivered to every household by Royal Mail in April, May and June.

This is normally done by volunteers but wasn’t possible during the first coronavirus lockdown.

The association, which doesn’t run at a profit, also donated £10,000 in free advertising space to local businesses during that period.

These outgoings were offset by a £750 reduction in printing costs as there were fewer pages.

It also loaned £3,000 to the organisers of the biennial Goring and Streatley Festival but this was swiftly repaid when it became clear that the event couldn’t go ahead under lockdown.