We hope you managed a well-earned rest over the festive period in spite of all the plans that had to be cancelled. We know things are looking gloomy and the last thing you need is a plea for support from us, but what we are asking is for you to support us in supporting others. Write Out Loud has made a huge difference to people’s lives – through poetry - in the past 18 years. 2020 taught us the value of poetry in difficult times for solace, commentary, confrontation, celebration, connection, and myriad other reasons. It taught us the power of the poetry community. We’re proud of what you helped us achieve with our ‘Beyond the Storm’ fundraising for the NHS, alongside the quality of the poetry and sheer volume of people involved and connections it created.

Although 2021 threatens fresh challenges, we know we have poetry to carry us through, with open mic sessions set to remain on Zoom, online workshops growing in popularity around the globe, new writers emerging, and established ones producing vibrant, visceral new work.

With your help Write Out Loud wants to continue supporting the poetry community throughout 2021 and beyond. We want to be equipped to enable, champion, inspire, and connect poets no matter what happens during the pandemic, and continue that once it’s over.

This includes those schoolchildren we will be introducing to writing their own poems, and reading them out loud; local groups operating via Zoom or face-to-face (eventually); freelance artists and groups whose work we will continue to report on; or individuals discussing their work in our online community.

Right now, our fundraising campaign is at 20% of its target. We have until midnight on 31 January to receive donations, each of which will be doubled by One Community, up to a total of £10,000. Please give anything you can.

Remember: YOU CAN DONATE VIA PAYPAL. Just write on it that it’s for ‘Match It’, so it can be doubled as part of this campaign.

A colossal thank you to everybody who’s donated so far. If you can’t afford to donate, please share the campaign through your channels. It all helps!

Take care and stay safe,
the Write Out Loud team.