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"High Living Barnet is my baby. My background is in food and drink publishing, and then I got involved in community publishing when we lived in Tufnell Park and I was part of a big family, parents organisation and edited our quarterly newsletter. When we moved here in 2013, I realised there was no interesting local publication because all the local papers were being wound down. I thought there was a need for something fun and upbeat, so I set up High Living Barnet off my own back. I like having creative freedom, being my own boss. I love local history, aesthetics and architecture, and just to be able to share and enthuse on your own terms by publishing online is great. So many things have become so corporate that people really appreciate things with local, independent character. Then Winkworths came on board as my main advertiser and helped me to promote it too. I kept it quirky and didn't restrict it just to Chipping Barnet, which kept it interesting for me, but it did focus on the fact that because of our location at the very edge of London by lovely countryside it's got so much going for it.
It's 5 years old now, and it is a lot of work. But keeping it going during the lockdowns kept me feeling positive and constructive, and gave me a mission and something to focus on. I felt people needed it for their sanity and it was really good for me too, to have a routine, and the challenge of finding things that were still fun and positive, and that we could still feel lucky for, like living in this gorgeous place and lots of us having gardens. Also people were doing amazing, inspiring things; using their skills and really stepping up, and it was great to be able to tell people about them. Suddenly I found my website and newsletter had become a lifeline to the community. People weren't taking it for granted anymore, and the waves of engagement and appreciation were lovely."
"High Living Barnet is my baby. My background is in food and drink publishing, and then I got involved in community publishing when we lived in Tufnell Park and I was part of a big family, parents organisation and edited our quarterly newsletter. When we moved here in 2013, I realised there was no interesting local publication because all the local papers were being wound down. I thought there was a need for something fun and upbeat, so I set up High Living Barnet off my own back. I like having creative freedom, being my own boss. I love local history, aesthetics and architecture, and just to be able to share and enthuse on your own terms by publishing online is great. So many things have become so corporate that people really appreciate things with local, independent character. Then Winkworths came on board as my main advertiser and helped me to promote it too. I kept it quirky and didn't restrict it just to Chipping Barnet, which kept it interesting for me, but it did focus on the fact that because of our location at the very edge of London by lovely countryside it's got so much going for it.
It's 5 years old now, and it is a lot of work. But keeping it going during the lockdowns kept me feeling positive and constructive, and gave me a mission and something to focus on. I felt people needed it for their sanity and it was really good for me too, to have a routine, and the challenge of finding things that were still fun and positive, and that we could still feel lucky for, like living in this gorgeous place and lots of us having gardens. Also people were doing amazing, inspiring things; using their skills and really stepping up, and it was great to be able to tell people about them. Suddenly I found my website and newsletter had become a lifeline to the community. People weren't taking it for granted anymore, and the waves of engagement and appreciation were lovely."
"High Living Barnet is my baby. My background is in food and drink publishing, and then I got involved in community publishing when we lived in Tufnell Park and I was part of a big family, parents organisation and edited our quarterly newsletter. When we moved here in 2013, I realised there was no interesting local publication because all the local papers were being wound down. I thought there was a need for something fun and upbeat, so I set up High Living Barnet off my own back. I like having creative freedom, being my own boss. I love local history, aesthetics and architecture, and just to be able to share and enthuse on your own terms by publishing online is great. So many things have become so corporate that people really appreciate things with local, independent character. Then Winkworths came on board as my main advertiser and helped me to promote it too. I kept it quirky and didn't restrict it just to Chipping Barnet, which kept it interesting for me, but it did focus on the fact that because of our location at the very edge of London by lovely countryside it's got so much going for it.