A look back at our 2026 AGM
This story was published by The Leicester Gazette : a local, independent newspaper about Leicestershire. 1,000 people have already joined our community. Just use those buttons below to download our app and sign up for free.
When you think of an annual general meeting (AGM), you might imagine a stuffy board room filled with investors in suits, talking about ways to cash out profits and get rich fast. In the case of the Leicester Gazette, it's anything but this. It's a party.
As a co-operative newspaper, we don't dish out dividends to shareholders. Instead, we reinvest every penny back into publishing high-quality local journalism. We're owned by the community – and we answer directly to our readers.
Every year, our members – people who choose to support the Gazette with a regular donation – get together to steer the direction of the organisation, reflect on our achievements, and make key decisions.
This year we returned to Soft Touch Arts on Monday 18 May, and it was by far our best AGM yet. Around 35 members and readers joined us for an evening celebrating our impact so far.
New team members
The Gazette team, volunteers, freelancers and directors. Photograph: Gianluca Misso
We kickstarted the evening by introducing Joseph Herbert and Devon Winters, who joined us last year as new worker members. Volunteers and freelancers who work with us for 12 months are offered worker membership, and an opportunity to get further involved with the day-to-day running of the Gazette.
Joseph and Devon spoke about their careers so far and highlighted what the Gazette means to them personally and professionally.
Introducing Subtext
Emma introduces Subtext. Photograph: Gianluca Misso
Editor and co-founder Emma Guy introduced Subtext, the Leicester Gazette's charity partner. Subtext is an educational, media literacy, human and social rights project. It aims to deliver interactive workshops to young people and to those in hard to reach communities.
Subtext is funded by Women in Journalism's Georgina Henry Award, which Emma won in November last year.
Our achievements and impact
Anyone can join the Gazette as a member. Photograph: Gianluca Misso
We spent some time rattling off all the work we've done over the past year. Some highlights included:
- Launching our first-ever print edition
- Winning national awards, including community news publication of the year
- Raising £3,385 for bleed kits, with over £1,800 donated by readers
- Hosting the Local News Forum in October at City Hall
- Publishing Leicestershire Police's contract with Palantir, after a lengthy freedom of information battle
- Featuring in The Guardian, The Times, Times Radio, and elsewhere
- Launching our mobile app.
The challenges ahead
Around 35 members and readers attended the event. Photograph: Gianluca Misso
It was also important to highlight the challenges that we still face.
Funding remains our biggest obstacle. We survive on memberships, local advertising, and community grants. Unlike larger outlets, every penny supports our ability to report on and with our community.
There are also only a few of us in the team, so we have to work strategically to maximise impact, rather than trying to do everything. A lack of long-term funding means we are limited in what we can do.
The decline in media literacy feels like an insurmountable problem. We're transparent about our sources, we correct errors quickly, and help readers think critically about the news they consume. Despite this, it's still an uphill battle – but we think Subtext can help improve media literacy here in Leicestershire.
Join the conversation
Our app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community.
Want to support our work? Click here for membership__.__
What's next
The AGM was held at Soft Touch Arts on New Walk. Photograph: Gianluca Misso
In June, we're celebrating Indie News Week – a national campaign recognising independent publishers. To coincide with events running up and down the country, we're putting on a FOI workshop for activists, campaigners and concerned citizens drawing from our experience fighting to release the Palantir contract. Details will be shared shortly.
Our third print edition is scheduled for release in August and we've already put our reporters to work on all sorts of different stories. If you'd like to support our mission to keep print alive, please do consider advertising. All advertising income goes back into printing the paper.
In March we won the Tenacious Journalists Award, which is funding an investigative and solutions-focused series on the garment industry in Leicester. You'll start to see stories from this campaign towards the end of the year.
Next year, we want to do something different: focus on growing our membership so we can spend our energy on publishing journalism instead of chasing grant funding. If you believe in that vision, joining today would help us hit the ground running.
Board elections
Lucy Faire, who was re-elected for another two-year term. Photograph: Gianluca Misso
There were two vacancies to fill on our board this year and three fantastic candidates in the running. They were:
- Lucy Faire (incumbent)
- Alistair Jones
- Manish Thanki
Lucy and Alistair were elected reader directors for a two-year term.
Finance report
Finally, we reviewed our income and expenses from the past year. Figures are approximate until the annual accounts are published, which we expect to happen within the next couple of weeks.
And that was that! We finished the evening with live music, delicious food provided by the volunteers at Soft Touch Arts, and, most importantly... cake!
View the full gallery
Before you go… We’ve recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we’re a small team on a shoestring budget.
Now, we’re ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.
The app connects with Bluesky , Mastodon and Threads , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It’s a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community.
Discussion in the ATmosphere