Appeal for voluntary local subscriptions

to all UNA members and associates in the Oxford Branch

The Oxford Branch of the United Nations Association continues to be an expanding one, with currently more than 230 contacts, and 300 people who have attended one or more of our recent meetings. We continue to provide a varied programme of lectures, which have recently included ones on the Arab Spring, freedom from torture, and the future of Afghanistan. We aim to make these lectures accessible from our website. All this costs money to provide: when we add together the cost of room hire, printing, postage, and stationery, it amounts to about £700 a year. I should add that we are all unpaid, and keep our expenses to the minimum: e-mail is used extensively, and many programmes are delivered by hand.

We have no permanent source of income. Supporters pay a subscription to UNA-UK, but we receive nothing. Our appeals for local subscriptions in 2006 and 2009 yielded £376 and £315 respectively. We do welcome cash donations at each lecture, but although people have responded generously, it is seldom enough to cover costs.

In the light of all this, we would like you to consider making another local voluntary subscription. To make such a donation, please send a cheque to the address below payable to 'United Nations Association, Oxford Branch', or hand it in at any Branch meeting.

Please note that we are not a charity, so Gift Aid can not apply. However, our parent body, UNA-UK, is now applying for charitable status, and if it is successful we would hope to follow suit.

Thank you for your generosity.

Neville Shepherd, Secretary, on behalf of the Committee

2 Woodlands Close, Oxford OX3 7RY

01865 761630

neville.shepherd@metronet.co.uk