Genie’s volunteers gather local, topical news and information sent in from the public and other sources and, when time allows, they seek out and investigate potential public-interest stories. News material is then formatted in order to be sent out to subscribers using the MailChimp mailing list system.
In addition to two e-newsletters, Village Matters and Public Information, other information is placed on Genie’s community calendar and its social media channels. The news reported by Genie mostly, but not exclusively, relates to the three parishes of Goring, South Stoke and Streatley where over 85% of the current subscribers live.
The primary motivation for developing Genie in 2017 was to be able to quickly communicate information to as many local residents as possible in an emergency or a crisis.
Genie’s mailing list has been growing steadily since 2017, currently at the rate of about 50 new subscribers per month, and you can subscribe to both the available newsletters at any time on the website. If, however, if you prefer, you can simply email subscribe@genienews.org requesting to be added to the list. Apart from providing your ‘village of residence’ we don’t need or hold any personal information. We will then add your email address manually for you and reply with a confirmation.
Genie is fully compliant with current data privacy regulations GDPR, and our mailing list is secure and managed by our Data Protection Manager who is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). At the bottom of every newsletter there is an ‘unsubscribe’ link which will immediately remove your name from the mailing list, should you wish to cease receiving the newsletters.
The Genie Team
Currently there are five main regular volunteers, all residents of Goring-on-Thames. Each has a specific role but they also work together to write the articles for the newsletters, edit and format them in the 'house-style’ and then mail them out.
Any residents in the Goring Gap villages and surrounding area are welcome to join the group in support of its aims to help develop Genie’s range of other free useful types of information.
Ron Bridle Chairman, Service & Audience Development Manager
Mary Carr Treasurer, Production Manager
Bryan Urbick Secretary, Webmaster & Data Protection Manager
Gill Haigh Calendar Manager
The Genie Community Group is a small, not-for-profit organisation with a written constitution.