Exeter Observer community share offer

Invest in local news that matters - Help publish the independent journalism Exeter needs in the community-owned newspaper it deserves

The independent journalism Exeter needs

Exeter Observer is a new kind of independent news organisation that holds wealth, power and influence to account while helping people participate more effectively in local democracy.

We’re expanding our team to cover more of what matters and foster our city’s cultural and community life, so we’re seeking investors, members and contributors to help us grow.

Exeter Observer is published by Exeter Observer Limited, an FCA-registered non-profit community benefit society that is democratically owned and run.

We are regulated by IMPRESS, the UK’s only Leveson-compliant press regulator, and uphold the Editors’ Code of Practice and NUJ Code of Conduct.

The story so far

We began publishing in April 2019. In our first year we established the editorial track record required for IMPRESS, BBC Local News Partnerships and ICNN membership and began training two groups of community journalists before the pandemic put development on hold.

The core team sustained the project and the readership grew. In April 2021 we raised £50,000 to finance a two-year development strategy, became an employer and launched The Exeter Digest, our essential email newsletter.

Twelve months later website traffic and subscriber numbers had both doubled, and in January this year we published our 300th story and passed 250,000 monthly page views.

We now employ two staff and have published work by sixteen volunteer contributors.

Democracy doesn’t work when people don’t know

Exeter Observer is part of an agile, innovative local news sector that is emerging in response to the failure of established publishers to fulfil their function in local democracy.

We never publish advertorial, clickbait or party political broadcasts and our non-profit ethos respects your privacy while protecting the public sphere.

Our community-owned subscription-based business model sustains other successful public interest journalism publishers, supporting serious reporting and analysis with real relevance and impact while helping civil society to thrive.

How we plan to grow

With support from Co-ops UK we have developed a growth plan based on a comprehensive local public interest news service that keeps readers informed about what matters with clarity and finesse.

We will expand our coverage to make complex issues accessible to a wider range of readers, tell more stories that explore the impact of decision-making on local people, publish more comment and editorial and extend our geographic scope to report on Exeter’s sprawling borders.

We will help people better understand how things work by publishing briefings that explain tangled topics with key statistics from authoritative sources and guides to local democracy and governance. A factcheck service is in development too.

We also plan to provide an events guide for residents (rather than a listings guide for tourists) and a community notice board that reflects Exeter’s public sphere, helping underfunded arts and culture creators to reach new audiences and the city’s civil society to thrive.

And we will host elections hustings that address the challenges we face, local democracy literacy workshops that bring our briefings and guides to life, and regular feedback forums to enable Exeter Observer’s greatest resource - the communities it serves - to inform the way it fulfils its mission.

Our overarching aim is to build on all this to launch a regular print edition, publishing the independent journalism Exeter needs in the community-owned newspaper it deserves.

Community share offer

With the help of a Reach Fund grant we have prepared a community share offer to raise the investment needed to finance this growth.

We have received advance assurance from HMRC that our share offer is eligible for 50% tax relief under its Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, with scope to claim capital gains tax and loss relief too, minimising investment risk.

We are also pursuing the possibility of becoming the UK’s first public interest journalism publisher to gain charitable status, blazing a trail which would confer a range of benefits and have a significant impact beyond revitalising Exeter’s public sphere.

Traditional local news publishers are failing the communities they are supposed to serve in towns and cities across the country. Exeter Observer’s success can be recreated everywhere committed citizens are prepared to invest in local news that matters.

Please get in touch to talk about any aspect of our community share offer by emailing us at [email protected] or come along to an informal event to find out more.


Invest in local news that matters

You can download full details of our community share offer, including its terms and conditions, and the Rules of Exeter Observer Limited below.

Exeter Observer community share offer document

Rules of Exeter Observer Limited


Community share offer application

We will process your application then email you with a request from our payment service provider GoCardless to authorise a bank transfer to purchase your shares.

We use GoCardless to ensure as much of your investment as possible is retained for its intended purpose, as it caps payment transaction fees at £4 + VAT. Fees can be as high as 10% on third-party crowdfunding platforms.

Please contact us if you would prefer to arrange a fee-free payment direct via BACS instead, or are applying on behalf of an organisation.

We will communicate with you about all aspects of your membership of Exeter Observer using your email address. Please notify us of any change to this address without delay.

Your personal information will be processed and stored in accordance with our GDPR-compliant Privacy Policy.


Exeter Observer is published by Exeter Observer Limited, Community Benefit Society No. 8435 registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.

Our registered address is St Sidwell’s Community Centre, Sidwell Street, Exeter EX4 6NN.

Community share offer
Community share offer
Exeter Observer community
Let's reclaim local journalism - Help publish the independent journalism Exeter needs in the community-owned newspaper it deserves

Let's reclaim local journalism

Invest in local news that matters and help publish the independent journalism Exeter needs in the community-owned newspaper it deserves.

Invest in local news that matters - Help publish the independent journalism Exeter needs in the community-owned newspaper it deserves

Invest in local news that matters and help Exeter Observer to grow

We're raising money to expand our team and publish the independent journalism Exeter needs in the community-owned newspaper it deserves.

Exeter local elections campaign materials

Help hold Exeter's political parties to account during the local elections

Send us any campaign materials you receive so we can factcheck candidates' claims and hold them to their pledges after the votes have been counted.

All Exeter Observer community
Exeter in brief

SOUTH WEST WATER owner Pennon Group has increased its shareholder dividend by nearly 11% to £112 million despite making a pre-tax loss of £8.5 million and being fined £2.15 million after pleading guilty to thirteen environmental offences committed across Devon and Cornwall. CEO Susan Davy said the company, which also owns Bristol Water, had “delivered improvements in environmental performance”

EXETER CITY COUNCIL member’s allowances and expenses came to a total of £409,000 in the year to March 2023, with council leader Phil Bialyk claiming £28,400 and receiving gifts and hospitality at Sandy Park stadium.

The city council has agreed to allow four music concerts at SANDY PARK STADIUM in June with up to 15,000 people in attendance, tickets for which have already been on sale for two months. Its planning committee heard accounts of extreme anti-social behaviour by visitors attending events at the venue as well as other adverse impacts on local residents and imposed traffic and parking, noise, litter and opening and closing time restrictions on the concerts.

An Ofsted monitoring report on DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL CHILDREN’S SERVICES, the fifth since the local authority was judged inadequate in January 2020, has found that the “quality of social work practice across Devon remains inconsistent”. Inspectors found “pockets of better practice” and “some positive changes” but said that weak management oversight, insufficient challenge and poor care planning all continue to cause problems. It also said a high turnover rate in agency social work staff, who make up more than 40% of the workforce, is having an adverse impact.

More Exeter in brief
News
AirBnB website listing page

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

Exeter councillor Yvonne Atkinson found in breach of code of conduct but escapes prosecution

Summary of investigation related to rental property interests involving Devon & Cornwall Police and Crown Prosecution Service withheld by Devon County Council while councillor campaigned for re-election to Exeter City Council.

University of Exeter students 2001-2023 Freedom Of Information Act responses vs published Full-Time Equivalent numbers line chart

PLANNING & PLACE

University comes clean on true Exeter campus student numbers over past two decades

Figures obtained under Freedom of Information Act confirm between 7,500 and 12,000 more students based in city each year than university numbers suggest – until this year – with major implications for council planning policy.

Harry Johnson-Hill Exeter Duryard & St James and Winchester Alresford & Itchen Valley candidate local elections campaign leaflets

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

Exeter local elections candidate is also standing in Winchester

University of Exeter student Harry Johnson-Hill hopes to represent voters both in Duryard & St James and at home in Alresford & Itchen Valley, 100 miles away.

All News
Analysis
Closed doors at County Hall

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

Closed doors at County Hall for councillor conduct hearings

A survey of local authority approaches to standards committee hearings finds Devon County Council alone in imposing private determination of conduct complaints.

Exeter City Council ballot share by ward 2016-23

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

Exeter electoral tectonic plates rumble as political landscape shifts

Labour takes second Conservative seat in Topsham but loses in St Thomas to Liberal Democrats as Green wins in Heavitree, St David's and Newtown & St Leonards place party second in 2023 city council elections.

2023 Exeter local elections guide graphic showing current council seat distribution

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

2023 Exeter local elections guide

City council elections take place on Thursday 4 May. Our essential guide highlights who's standing where, wards to watch and what the results might be. It also covers the wider context, voter ID and the impact of First Past the Post in Exeter elections.

All Analysis
Comment
Exeter City Council annual meeting

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

Labour councillors again appointed to all thirteen committee chairs at annual council meeting

Council leader finally quits planning committee alongside other remaining Executive member but persists with secret board that enables scrutiny evasion.

Satellite image showing two minute pedestrian route from The Cottage, Nadderwater to Newbery car breakers, Redhills

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

How far does the council leader have to go before he sees a planning committee conflict of interest?

Phil Bialyk led charge against application to develop site 160 yards from his house despite conduct codes and LGA planning probity guidance.

Exeter City Council community grants budgets including 2023-24 virements bar chart

DEMOCRACY & GOVERNANCE

Councillor falsely labels community grants cuts story "misinformation"

Labour's Martin Pearce brands Exeter Observer "opposition propaganda" at full city council meeting, earning rebuke from Lord Mayor and putting council at risk of code of practice breach during pre-election period.

All Comment
On the agenda

EXETER CITY COUNCIL is inviting reactions to its proposed amendments to its existing planning policy restrictions on the conversion of residential housing to multiple occupancy dwellings, frequently lived by students, near the university. There are exhibitions from 1-7pm on Wednesday 7 June at Exeter Guildhall, 1.30-7pm on Tuesday 13 June at Newtown Community Centre in Belmont Park and 1-7pm on Tuesday 20 June at St James Church Hall in Mount Pleasant Road. Printed copies of its plans will also be available at the Civic Centre and in libraries until the consultation concludes on 3 July.

A public consultation on a draft DEVON, CORNWALL AND ISLES OF SCILLY CLIMATE ADAPTATION STRATEGY which will attempt to minimise the impact of climate change on the South West peninsula is under way until 30 June. The full draft strategy is here. Publication of a revised, final version of the plan is expected in August before partnership organisations will be invited to endorse it during the autumn, four and a half years after Devon County Council convened the Devon Climate Emergency Response Group to “act now to tackle [the] climate emergency”.

On our radar
All topics

ACCOUNTABILITY & TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTABILITY & TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTABILITY & TRANSPARENCY   AIR QUALITY AIR QUALITY AIR QUALITY   COP26 COP26 COP26   COVID-19 COVID-19 COVID-19   CITYPOINT CITYPOINT CITYPOINT   CLIFTON HILL SPORTS CENTRE CLIFTON HILL SPORTS CENTRE CLIFTON HILL SPORTS CENTRE   CLIMATE CRISIS CLIMATE CRISIS CLIMATE CRISIS   CLIMATE CRISIS CLIMATE CRISIS CLIMATE CRISIS   CO-LIVING CO-LIVING CO-LIVING   CONGESTION CONGESTION CONGESTION   COUNCIL TAX COUNCIL TAX COUNCIL TAX   CROWN ESTATE CROWN ESTATE CROWN ESTATE   CYCLING & WALKING CYCLING & WALKING CYCLING & WALKING   DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT   DEVON & CORNWALL POLICE DEVON & CORNWALL POLICE DEVON & CORNWALL POLICE   DEVON CARBON PLAN DEVON CARBON PLAN DEVON CARBON PLAN   DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL   DEVON PENSION FUND DEVON PENSION FUND DEVON PENSION FUND   EAST DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL EAST DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL EAST DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL   EXETER AIRPORT EXETER AIRPORT EXETER AIRPORT   EXETER CATHEDRAL EXETER CATHEDRAL EXETER CATHEDRAL   EXETER CITY COUNCIL EXETER CITY COUNCIL EXETER CITY COUNCIL   EXETER CITY FUTURES EXETER CITY FUTURES EXETER CITY FUTURES   EXETER CITY LIVING EXETER CITY LIVING EXETER CITY LIVING   EXETER CLIMATE ACTION HUB EXETER CLIMATE ACTION HUB EXETER CLIMATE ACTION HUB   EXETER COLLEGE EXETER COLLEGE EXETER COLLEGE   EXETER CULTURE EXETER CULTURE EXETER CULTURE   EXETER DEVELOPMENT FUND EXETER DEVELOPMENT FUND EXETER DEVELOPMENT FUND   EXETER LIVE BETTER EXETER LIVE BETTER EXETER LIVE BETTER   EXETER LOCAL PLAN EXETER LOCAL PLAN EXETER LOCAL PLAN   EXETER PHOENIX EXETER PHOENIX EXETER PHOENIX   EXETER PRIDE EXETER PRIDE EXETER PRIDE   EXETER SCIENCE PARK EXETER SCIENCE PARK EXETER SCIENCE PARK   EXETER ST DAVID'S EXETER ST DAVID'S EXETER ST DAVID'S   EXETER TRANSPORT STRATEGY EXETER TRANSPORT STRATEGY EXETER TRANSPORT STRATEGY   EXETER CITY CENTRE EXETER CITY CENTRE EXETER CITY CENTRE   EXTINCTION REBELLION EXETER EXTINCTION REBELLION EXETER EXTINCTION REBELLION EXETER   FREEDOM OF INFORMATION FREEDOM OF INFORMATION FREEDOM OF INFORMATION   FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE EXETER FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE EXETER FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE EXETER   GENERAL ELECTIONS GENERAL ELECTIONS GENERAL ELECTIONS   GUILDHALL GUILDHALL GUILDHALL   HARLEQUINS HARLEQUINS HARLEQUINS   HEART OF THE SOUTH WEST LEP HEART OF THE SOUTH WEST LEP HEART OF THE SOUTH WEST LEP   HOUSING CRISIS HOUSING CRISIS HOUSING CRISIS   LGBTQIA+ LGBTQIA+ LGBTQIA+   LIBRARIES UNLIMITED LIBRARIES UNLIMITED LIBRARIES UNLIMITED   LIVEABLE EXETER PLACE BOARD LIVEABLE EXETER PLACE BOARD LIVEABLE EXETER PLACE BOARD   LIVEABLE EXETER LIVEABLE EXETER LIVEABLE EXETER   LOCAL INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY LOCAL INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY LOCAL INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY   LOCAL ELECTIONS LOCAL ELECTIONS LOCAL ELECTIONS   MAKETANK MAKETANK MAKETANK   MARSH BARTON MARSH BARTON MARSH BARTON   MET OFFICE MET OFFICE MET OFFICE   MID DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL MID DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL MID DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL   NET ZERO EXETER NET ZERO EXETER NET ZERO EXETER   NORTHERNHAY GARDENS NORTHERNHAY GARDENS NORTHERNHAY GARDENS   OXYGEN HOUSE OXYGEN HOUSE OXYGEN HOUSE   PARIS STREET PARIS STREET PARIS STREET   PARKING PARKING PARKING   PENINSULA TRANSPORT PENINSULA TRANSPORT PENINSULA TRANSPORT   PLANNING POLICY PLANNING POLICY PLANNING POLICY   PRINCESSHAY PRINCESSHAY PRINCESSHAY   PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT   PUBLIC CONSULTATION PUBLIC CONSULTATION PUBLIC CONSULTATION   PUBLIC HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH PUBLIC HEALTH   PUBLIC PARKS PUBLIC PARKS PUBLIC PARKS   PUBLIC REALM PUBLIC REALM PUBLIC REALM   PUBLIC TRANSPORT PUBLIC TRANSPORT PUBLIC TRANSPORT   RAMM RAMM RAMM   REFUSE & RECYCLING REFUSE & RECYCLING REFUSE & RECYCLING   RETROFIT RETROFIT RETROFIT   ROYAL DEVON NHS TRUST ROYAL DEVON NHS TRUST ROYAL DEVON NHS TRUST   SIDWELL STREET SIDWELL STREET SIDWELL STREET   SOUTH WEST EXETER EXTENSION SOUTH WEST EXETER EXTENSION SOUTH WEST EXETER EXTENSION   SOUTH WEST WATER SOUTH WEST WATER SOUTH WEST WATER   SOUTHERNHAY SOUTHERNHAY SOUTHERNHAY   SPORT ENGLAND LOCAL DELIVERY PILOT SPORT ENGLAND LOCAL DELIVERY PILOT SPORT ENGLAND LOCAL DELIVERY PILOT   ST SIDWELL'S COMMUNITY CENTRE ST SIDWELL'S COMMUNITY CENTRE ST SIDWELL'S COMMUNITY CENTRE   ST SIDWELL'S POINT ST SIDWELL'S POINT ST SIDWELL'S POINT   STAGECOACH SOUTH WEST STAGECOACH SOUTH WEST STAGECOACH SOUTH WEST   STUDENT ACCOMMODATION STUDENT ACCOMMODATION STUDENT ACCOMMODATION   TEIGNBRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL TEIGNBRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL TEIGNBRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL   UNIVERSITY OF EXETER UNIVERSITY OF EXETER UNIVERSITY OF EXETER  

More stories