IT was an exclusive interview with the new parish priest that helped secure the top prize.

Amanda Bull edits Insight from her Gosport home

‘Insight’, from St John the Evangelist Church, Forton, in Gosport, has won the latest Most Improved Parish Magazine contest organised by the Anglican diocese of Portsmouth. Judges praised the initiative of editor Amanda Bull, who travelled to London to interview and photograph the Rev Carrie Thompson for the December 2007 magazine – long before she took up her post.

The prizes were presented by the Anglican Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Kenneth Stevenson, after a cathedral service devoted to the work of parish magazine editors across the diocese. He gave the parish £200 to spend on the further development of the magazine.

‘Insight’ was relaunched a year ago, with a policy that all its content should be researched and written by the editor. Photographs of people were featured inside and on the front cover, and a new design style embraced.

Diocesan communications adviser Neil Pugmire said: “Creating a more lively publication, with photos and a good design, is one thing. Taking the trouble to go to London and interview the new vicar before most people in the parish had met her shows real journalistic flair. There was a great deal of interest in Carrie, as she’s the first female vicar in the parish. It’s that kind of thing that has made Insight a must-read magazine.”

‘The Bridge’, from St Edmund’s and St Mark’s Churches in Wootton, on the Isle of Wight, took second place and £100, and ‘Connections’, from Niton and Whitwell on the island, took third place and £50.

There are around 50 parish magazines published across the 142 parishes in Portsmouth’s Anglican diocese, and its Most Improved Parish Magazine contest is held every two years. Improvements in content, design, production and distribution were measured between the December 2005 and December 2007 editions. The prizes were presented after an Evensong service at which parish magazine editors were thanked and prayed for.

Bishop Kenneth told them: “You work hard at producing these publications that communicate what the local church is doing. We have 12,500 adults going to church each week, but your magazines reach more than 25,000 people. So your magazine may be the only spiritual input that a household receives. It is invariably valued by many people, and it’s something for which we should be profoundly thankful.”

This is the first time that an Isle of Wight publication has not scooped the top prize. The 2001-2003 contest was won by ‘Carisbrooke Parish News’, from St Mary’s, Carisbrooke, and the 2003-2005 contest was won by ‘Village News’, from the parishes of Calbourne, Newtown and Shalfleet.