Fund background

The Morning Star occupies a unique place in the history of the British press.

The paper's owner is the Peoples Press Printing Society - a co-operative fully owned by its readers.

It is in hock to no transnational publisher and controlled by no one political party.

Its readers and its staff come from every shade of opinion of the political left in Britain and it is proud of its campaigning history on behalf of a huge range of progressive issues.

But such independence has its price.

Advertising is the lifeblood of daily newspapers - and that lifeblood is denied to this paper by business and by government alike - for very understandable, if not forgiveable reasons.

And so the paper's income derives exclusively from sales, the advertising placed in the paper by the trade union movement that it serves - and by its Fighting Fund.

Readers and supporters across Britain continually fight to raise the £16,000 needed every month to keep the paper alive and campaigning - over and above sales income.

Personal donations, gifts by trade union branches and trades councils, the proceeds of jumble sales, second-hand book sales and Christmas fairs all go into the pot which is kept boiling by fund organiser Mac O'Connell.

If you want to join that select band of fundraisers - and we certainly want you to - just email Mac O'Connell and he will arrange the rest.