Announcing our readership survey winners

Thank you for your feedback

Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the readership survey in last month’s The Village Observer.

readership prefers it as a printed publication. In our fast-paced lifestyles, there is something to be said for being able to flick through the pages of a magazine over a cup of coffee, rather than quickly scrolling through grabs of information from a device. A key takeout from our survey was that many of our readers were unaware that profits from The Village Observer are passed back into our local community through the aged and disability services provided by Sydney Community Services. Each and every advertisement that appears in our magazine helps support the most vulnerable sectors of our community.

And our winners are…

Thank you to everyone who contributed ideas and suggestions on how to improve TVO. We would like to congratulate our three winners who will each receive a prize pack which includes vouchers kindly donated by various local businesses including: Stuart Leal Photography, The Village Florist Hunters Hill, Dachshund Coffee, Ironwood Coffee Company, Found Gifts and Homeware, Four Frogs Creperie, Eyes 4 You and Burns Bay Bookery.

In addition to the written survey, TVO also conducted a focus group. Together, the feedback has been invaluable in enabling us to better understand what our readers like, dislike and potential improvements that we can make moving forward. From the responses received, the majority of readers indicated that they consider TVO to be a good source of local information, with news and events and features discussing general interest issues and topics being the most popular sections. Information including What’s On and Bits & Pieces are also valued resources.

There were some excellent suggestions for new sections within the magazine which we will be introducing in future issues. Popular requests included adding more profiles on interesting community members, together with more information on the environment, sustainability, local history and restaurants.

In this digital age, there is always the looming question about whether continuing to print TVO rather than transitioning it into an online format is the right move. The feedback we received overwhelmingly indicated that our The Village Observer has been owned by Lane Cove Community Aid Foundation for the past eight years. The Foundation contributes to the work of Sydney Community Services, which provides services to the aged and people living with a disability. This includes social activities, gardening, home nursing, podiatry, Community Care Advisor, linen service, home delivered meals, home modifications and maintenance, flexible respite, carers support, shopping services, community and engagement programs, medical transport and assistance in daily life. Congratulations to:

Teresa Ho, for her suggestions to include interviews with local residents and a ‘spotlight on volunteers’ segment to recognise their work and contribution to the community.

Freddy Obitz, for his suggestion to increase the section on sustainability and the environment.

Anne Linnane, for her suggestion to include favourite recipes from local chefs.

Part of what makes bringing The Village Observer to you each month so rewarding, is that we are not only working to keep our community connected, but we are also working to improve the magazine to help grow revenue to better support our community's aged and disability sectors. 