Awards 2016: News magazine - up to 4 issues a year

Housing & Care 21 is a not-for-profit organisation that provides retirement housing and care services for people aged 65 and over. It aims to deliver affordable, modern, people-focused services to meet and improve the wellbeing and independence needs of all its residents. There’s always a lot going on at Housing & Care 21, and the My Time publication is the glue that brings the residents and the business together. My Time For Housing & Care 21 By Sequel Housing & Care 21 is a not-for-profit organisation that provides retirement housing and care services for people aged 65 and over. It aims to deliver affordable, modern, people-focused services to meet and improve the wellbeing and independence needs of all its residents. There’s always a lot going on at Housing & Care 21, and the My Time publication is the glue that brings the residents and the business together. Reasons to be cheerful… My Time is a bright, cheerful magazine that aims to inform, entertain, share life stories and inspire Housing & Care 21 residents to live their life to the full. It isn’t preachy; it’s fun, with a mix of light-hearted and business stories that brings the residents and the people behind the business to life. Combining professional photography with candid shots taken by residents, the magazine blends the day-to-day experiences of residents with helpful advice on nutrition, benefits, travel, health and safety; information about the business; and the lowdown on some residents’ extraordinary, exciting and adventurous activities. My Time is a popular, well-respected and high-profile communication channel used by Housing & Care 21 to measure the sentiments and happiness of its residents. Execution and challenges The guiding principles behind the writing and design of My Time are to create an aspirational magazine for a grown-up audience. The magazine had to be fun, lively, positive and informative without being patronising. My Time is for residents, so we aim for their voice to come across strongly in every story. Each issue begins with an editorial meeting where the Housing & Care 21 comms team and the Sequel production team (account manager, editor and designer) talk through ideas and potential stories to develop a contents plan. The planning meeting aims to make sure we get the right mix of stories to appeal to a wide range of readers. On the business front there’s news from Housing & Care 21, including chief executive Bruce’s blog – always a hit with residents – and any award successes. We include ‘non-preachy’ lifestyle features too, such as foods that help fight dementia, and inspirational tales of energetic residents, including a rugby player, a marathon runner, and an abseiler who are all in their 90s! And then there are stories from residents, and in-depth interviews with residents who have an interesting passion or history... such as a jazz performer who many years ago had been arrested in her hair curlers and thrown in a Tanzanian jail! The audience is aged 65 and over, so we designed the magazine in line with Disability Discrimination Act guidelines, including limiting the amount of white text on dark backgrounds and using an 11pt font. The design relies very much on submitted pictures from residents on the courts. At one level this is brilliant – it shows they’ve bought into the magazine and made it their own. However, these photographs aren’t always of the highest quality. Although some internal publications might reject these lower-quality images, we appreciate that for this particular audience they are very important. So we always make the best of what we’re supplied with – often this means we have to put a lot of thought into bringing the page to life by using a range of design elements including big numbers, pull-out quotes, and the use of stock images. The main challenge in producing the magazine – and it’s such a good one to have – is the flood of letters and emails from residents wanting to share their stories, along with article requests from different parts of the organisation. Remaining firm about retaining the balance of the magazine has been critical in maintaining its popularity and integrity among readers. Outcomes and results We did a readership survey and were delighted to learn that 86% of respondents always read My Time. All features rated highly in popularity, with news and regional content rated 88% and 87% respectively. The design, use of photography, legibility and writing style also got the thumbs up (83%). Here are some snippets taken from the survey feedback… “I like the format of My Time because the balance between the social news and information about the company is good. I personally am more interested in the info, but the social chat is important to a lot of people.” “My Time is a nice size and easy to read, well laid out and very informative.” “My opinion of My Time is very favourable! It gives all the courts the opportunity to spread the news – what’s going on at the various different courts, which gives other courts ideas of things they can do, whether that’s to raise money for the court or for favourite charities. What’s there to dislike, except that it isn’t monthly! Everything is very interesting, making very good reading.” “It keeps residents in touch with some of the H&C21 decisions and policy changes. We have news from around the courts and money raised for charities, future events and news of staff members.” “My Time is very informative about what’s happened to our collections, for example, when we hold coffee mornings for Macmillan.”

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Awards 2016: News magazine - up to 4 issues a year

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