North Ken News

We asked those who receive North Ken News (the northern seven wards of the borough) about their views on the newsletter. Having decided to reduce the frequency of the newsletter to once every two months, we wanted to understand how often people read North Ken News, what they liked about it and where we could make improvements.

The survey closed on 12 January 2022 and received 459 responses.

How often do you read the newsletter?

• Almost three-quarters (73 per cent) indicated they read North Ken News ‘every month’
• One in 10 (10 per cent) read it ‘every two to three months’
• Eight per cent said they ‘never’ read it.

Why don’t you read the newsletter?

• Those who didn’t read the newsletter often or at all told us they weren’t interested in the stories, that they were too busy to read the newsletter or that they just flicked through it occasionally
• A small number of respondents reported occasional issues with receiving the newsletter.

What content do you enjoy and how could we improve?

• The content enjoyed most by respondents was local and community news, followed closely by updates on Council services, and local events.
• Sixty-one per cent of respondents said they would like to see more information about local and community news in future editions.
• When asked how we could improve the newsletter, 50 people told us they had no substantial suggestions and that they had positive views about content in the newsletter.
• Twelve respondents commented on the design and layout of the publication, while ten said they’d like to see more community stories and interviews with local people.

We found the results of this survey encouraging and were glad to see that many of those who responded had positive comments about the newsletter. There were some recurring themes in the responses, so we will:

• Extend our content call-out list to seek-out content covering as much of North Kensington as possible, and to generate stories that cover a broader range of interests
• Balance out the number of Council updates with content generated by the community, which will focus more on residents, community initiatives/projects, and local history/areas of interest
• Work with the designers of North Ken News to refresh the look and feel of the newsletter to make sure the content utilises the page space, while remaining easy and enjoyable to read
• Discuss any potential delivery issues with our distribution team to explore why some residents reported not receiving the newsletter.