AN EAST CLEVELAND TOWN DIRECTORY celebrated its thirtieth anniversary with the launch of the 2011 edition this week.
'Family Focus' is a directory of all the organisations in the East Cleveland market town of Guisborough.
The 'Family Focus' directory was first published in the 1980s by a group of young mums who wanted a source of information about nurseries, clinics and schools. Over the years it grew from a a collection of loose sheets duplicated on a Gestetner machine to an 88 page booklet.
Twenty-five years later, the former 'young mums' asked the Rotary Club of Guisborough & Great Ayton to take over the publication. Using the professional expertise of Rotary Club members the booklet was transformed to include a set of the latest Ordnance Survey maps of the town and a full colour cover.
'It is so rewarding to know Family Focus is still going strong and to know it is in safe hands with the Rotary Club,' said Margaret Ashton who first thought of the idea.
The 2011 edition was launched at a special reception this week, attended by five of the original group who created the publication.
'We were so pleased that we were able to track down the creators of the directory after all these years,' said Pat Anderson, president of the 28 member Rotary Club.
The new edition includes details of the town's voluntary and charitable organisations and the latest information about surgeries, town councillors, churches, schools and nurseries.
It takes three months to gather in the updates each year, collect the advertising and prepare the directory for publication.
The work is done by a team of three Rotary Club members, a retired printer, a computer consultant and a retired lecturer.
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