A Facebook page featuring satirical news about an East Renfrewshire village has raised over £1200 by selling a 2018 calendar.
Neilston News, which shares tongue-in-cheek updates about local goings-on plus regular digs at neighbouring Barrhead, will give the profits to local community groups.
£300 is heading to Neilston Wasps, a youth football team, with the remaining money being given to Neilston’s Development Trust to support good causes and activities in the village.
https://www.facebook.com/NeilstonNews/photos/a.1664411193781822.1073741828.1664106623812279/1985534255002846/?type=3
Stewart McKenzie, 29, was recently unveiled as the man behind the Daily Mash-style page, having kept his identity a mystery since its inception.
Initially he used his imagination to resurrect the village’s old video store and post amusing updates while bored on his daily commute, before turning his attention to his hometown as a whole.
He told The Sunday Post: “Neilston’s only a wee village, but I know it’s a place people hold dear – as much as we joke about it.
“Whilst I knew that there was intrigue as no-one initially knew who was behind the page, I was surprised at how much people appeared to enjoy reading these spoof news stories I’d written on my phone on the train home from work!”
https://www.facebook.com/NeilstonNews/photos/a.1664411193781822.1073741828.1664106623812279/1950477238508548/?type=3
The page now has almost 4,500 Facebook likes, and its popularity was put to good use with the calendar, which features a humorous news story about the village or a ‘local person’ for every month.
Stewart said: “A couple of friends had mentioned to me about doing calendars for Christmas and I’d seen a couple of comments on posts suggesting it too. I knew I’d be a bit out my comfort zone doing it, but I just thought I’d give it a shot.
“I didn’t want to make any money from the calendars so knew I would be giving all my takings back to the village. I had no idea how many I would sell so it was great to see such a response.”
He thanked staff at the Cup N Saucer coffee shop and Scott Carwood for their help in distributing the calendar.
https://www.facebook.com/NeilstonNews/photos/a.1664411193781822.1073741828.1664106623812279/1953199841569621/?type=3
A spokesperson for Neilston Development Trust said: “NDT is delighted to be the joint recipients of Neilston News’ kind donation and we’re thinking about the best way to use it for community benefit.
“NDT (and, no doubt, Neilston News!) will be letting everyone know as soon as we’ve come to a decision.”
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