2017 was the best fighting fund total this century!

Fighting fund record! Photo TaxRebate.org.uk (Creative Commons) (Click to enlarge)

Ken Douglas, Socialist Party national treasurer

In the last three months of 2017 Socialist Party members raised over £40,000 for the first time in the 21st century! Raising a fantastic £44,384 not only smashed the record for the most fighting fund raised in a quarter but also, with a magnificent total of £143,053, shattered the record set in 2016 of the most raised in a year.

The Socialist Party has no fat cat backers, who on Thursday 4 January had 'earnt' in three days more than most workers earn in a year. We rely on the hard-earned money donated by ordinary workers who support our campaigns and ideas and the hard work and sacrifice of our own members.

61 branches hit their target in the last quarter. 23 branches raised over 200% and Liverpool branch once again raised the biggest sum of £2,674.

Socialist Party members campaigned tirelessly throughout 2017. There were very successful appeals at public meetings during the general election and after - £1,000 raised at the PCS civil servant's union conference, £2,000 at Unison, the local government and health union conference, and £1,500 at the London book launch of From Militant to the Socialist Party.

As well as public appeals and campaign stalls our members also raised funds in many other ways. Curry nights, car boots and cake sales; ping pong tournaments and plant sales; selling badges, mugs, Christmas cards and wall planners. All helped us achieve this record total.

Our task in 2018 is to make sure that this year is as successful as the last. This is vital as the fighting fund enables us to produce the leaflets, pamphlets, placards and posters that help raise the profile of the Socialist Party and the relevance of a socialist alternative.

You can help by raising funds for us or making a one-off or regular donation to the fighting fund.

Donate to the Socialist Party

Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.