A Peaceful Christmas to you all

On behalf of the Write Out Loud Team, here’s wishing you a Brexit-news-free, Trumpless, peaceful, poetic Christmas.

Whilst reading this, please consider:

What if there was no Write Out Loud? 

It often shocks people to discover that Write Out Loud is unfunded, and has been throughout the 16 years it has been making a difference to people’s lives across the UK and beyond. Except for one year we got a small grant from a large funder, and we had to crawl over hot coals for that. 

We are regularly told how we make a difference to people’s lives as they grow and develop in confidence as a poet or performer; how we support publishers small and large; how individuals and groups enjoy and benefit from our work, be it poetry blogs, gig guide, news and reviews, competitions, or our local groups in Bolton, Wigan, Sale, Stockport, Marsden or Woking; or Marsden the Poetry Village.

This work depends on a small group of dedicated volunteers and on your generous donations, for which we are very grateful. Some of you chip in here and there, without which there wouldn’t be a website. However, the more successful the site becomes, the more it costs (insurance, hosting fees, postage, phone, etc). We are a not-for-profit organisation (a community interest company) so all funds go to keeping us afloat. And we need more than we currently receive.

Please consider making a donation, to help Write Out Loud continue making a difference to both grassroots and manicured-lawn poetry and poets.

We are currently bidding for funding grants for specific projects that match our mission of helping individuals find their voice and share their words, bringing more people to poetry, and poetry to more people. We aim to continue bidding for grants – like the Marsden the Poetry Village ones - but still need our volunteers and your donations.

Please chip in what you can to help us keep serving you and others. If you can make a regular donation, that would make a huge difference to us too. Thank you.

Here’s to a great Christmas and a better 2019 to you all. Thank you for supporting us.

Julian Jordon, on behalf of Write Out Loud’s team of volunteers