Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1064/29869
From The Socialist newspaper, 13 November 2019
Help socialist ideas spread this election: donate!
Ken Douglas, Socialist Party national treasurer
Socialist Party members and supporters raised a record £42,445 at the Socialism 2019 rally on 2 November. This was a fantastic result, and showed determination to ensure we have the resources we need to produce campaigning leaflets, posters, placards and other materials as we go into the general election.
After less than six weeks, we have already hit the fighting fund target for this quarter, and also beaten the annual target of £120,000. But we can't stop now!
We have a chance to go into 2020 having surpassed the record for the most fighting fund raised in a single year. This currently stands at £143,500 in 2017. But we can beat that if all the pledges from the Socialism appeal are paid in, and we have a determined push over the next seven weeks.
The general election itself gives us opportunities to hold extra campaigning stalls. Weekday lunchtime stalls will attract workers on their break. Workplace sales, and bus and rail station sales, will be good chances to sell the Socialist and raise fighting fund, by asking for the solidarity price of £2, or simply for a donation. You can increase that by getting an iZettle or other mobile card reader.
In the run-up to Christmas, branches will be planning parties and fundraising events. In London, a Christmas bake-off is planned. Other ideas might be raffling a Christmas hamper to which branch members contribute a single item each if they can.
In this period of political turmoil, the Socialist and Socialism Today, our website and all our other material, shine like beacons through the fog of Brexit - giving a way forward for the working class and a strategy to break the political paralysis at the top.
Finance is vital to ensure our ideas reach as wide an audience as possible. This election is a great opportunity to build support for socialist ideas, and show how a socialist programme could change our lives.
Can you help? If you didn't manage to get to the Socialism rally, and haven't yet been able to donate to the appeal, or you are reading the Socialist for the first time, please consider making a donation to help us achieve our target.
- You can donate at socialistparty.org.uk/donate, or by phoning 020 8988 8777.
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.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 13 November 2019:
What we think
Attacks show elite fear a Corbyn election win
News
Strike, protest, vote - Kick the Tories out
Labour MP targeted by right wing stands as independent
Green Party offers no alternative for young people and climate change chaos
International socialist news and analysis
Bolivia: Right-wing coup ousts Morales
Kshama Sawant reelected in Seattle
Workplace news
'McStrikers' demand £15 an hour
UCU strikes: Union means business in fight against employers
Postal union determined to resist bosses' attacks
PCS union general secretary election: Enthusiastic support for Marion Lloyd
Frimley NHS Trust strikes: Health workers walkout against privatisation
Bradford libraries and museums: Unite members escalate action against cuts
RMT union members at SWR to walk out in December
Transport for London - Justice for cleaners!
Education
Save education - Kick out the Tories
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Leicester campaigns to save our NHS
Fighting for free education, jobs, homes, and a future worth living
Socialism 2019 rally: "Socialist change needed to end climate change"
Trade union conference to force secret police disclosure
Barking: protest brings pledge to remove dangerous decking
Help socialist ideas spread this election: donate!
We saved Chatsworth Ward - two years on
Readers' opinion
Readers' opinion: Twitter's banning of political ads threatens workers' voice
Theatre: On Bear Ridge - an examination of loss, set in a post-apocalyptic world
Socialism 2019 - what you thought
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