10.08.2011

Set to hit target

Now we are on the last leg, writes Mark Fischer

This bumper issue of our paper is the last to appear before our annual school, Communist University, and the last before our two-week summer break (Weekly Worker 879 will appear on Thursday September 1). It is also the last before the end of our intensive fundraising campaign, the Summer Offensive.

The SO actually ends in just over a week’s time, when the final total will be declared at our celebratory meal. And we are looking set to surpass our £25,000 target, with £17,593 already in the kitty. True, seven and a half grand is a lot to raise in the last week, but we know from experience that large amounts will come in during Communist University itself. Many comrades - especially those from outside London - will come armed with their cheque books or cash. They will hand over their donations, buy food and drink, and snap up CPGB merchandise. All the profits count towards the total.

Among the goods they will be able to buy this year are two new publications: first, Ben Lewis’s and Lars T Lih’s eagerly awaited Zinoviev and Martov: head to head in Halle, which describes the historic confrontation in October 1920 between leaders of the two wings of the Russian workers’ movement; and the CPGB’s Draft programme, as revised at our January conference.

Also available will be all kinds of literature, badges and T-shirts. Speaking of which, comrade AG has added to his own SO target thanks to the £189 already raised through the sale of T-shirts he designed - including one featuring our CU logo, which is being raffled at Communist University.

That £189 was part of the £1,522 that we received over the last seven days, which also included a handsome £550 contribution from comrade TM. Then there were a number of donations made via our website (we had 14,852 visitors last week, by the way), not to mention the regular gifts to the Weekly Worker that landed in the WW bank account. As I say, it all counts.

A central part of this year’s SO has been the drive to win new or increased standing orders for our paper. We set ourselves the aim of raising an extra £300 a month in regular donations. And we are very near that target now, following new monthly pledges from SP (£15 on top of his existing £5), LC (a new standing order of £12), AD and DO (£5 more each) FC (£2) and JB (£1). The extra monthly income for the paper now stands at an impressive £263 - we are almost there (although it has to be said that we still need to ensure that all of those pledges are translated into hard cash).

Now we are on the last leg we have to ensure that we complete the course - another £750 right now, plus an extra £40 per month for the Weekly Worker. And, of course, come along to CU yourself. Not only can we promise stimulating and controversial debate, but an opportunity to relax among comrades ... and help us meet those targets.