28.07.2010

Halfway mark

Howard Roak calls for a really good week for the SO campaign

Our Summer Offensive - the annual fundraising drive of the party - continues to move along at a very decent pace. This week we reached another milestone with the passing of the halfway mark on the way towards our target of £25k, to be raised by August 14, the last day of our school, Communist University.

In hand, we now have a very sturdy £12,987 - this week saw £1,254 of new money land in the party’s coffers. Special thanks to the comrades who organised the SO’s postal mail-out from the party office - it has already started to reap results, in particular in the form of comrade GD’s generous £120 sent in to sponsor a non-waged comrade at Communist University. Also this week, special mention to comrade CG for his £60, £100 from WD, £176 from PM, a £200 solidarity rate for CU from MM (CU solidarity rate), PB’s £60, a solid £50 from JT and £100 towards his SO target from DI.

A respectable £50 was also raised on the party stall at the 1234 festival in London’s Shoreditch Park. Not exactly our natural audience, but comrades report a decent enough response from most festival-goers - even if we did a rather better trade in Che Guevara badges than copies of the party’s Draft programme (although I’m told a fair number of Weekly Workers were also sold). So a fun day out was had by all, with a few sunburned limbs and a trip down memory lane courtesy of a set from the wondrous Vic Godard and Subway Sect. Great stuff.

Comrades, we need a really good week for the campaign over the coming seven days - Communist University and the end of this year’s campaign looms. I know that extra cash will come in during CU itself, but I would rather have an extra few thousand in the bank before then!