Sunday, July 03, 2011

THE SILLITOE PROJECT: website news

The Alan Sillitoe website has undergone a major overhaul today: plenty of new content, including the winning stories from the recent short fiction competition.

There's now also a PayPal "donate" button for anyone who would like to make a contribution to the statue fund.

Stealing an idea from Tim at Antagony and Ecstasy, who raised over $1,100 towards cancer research by taking requests for reviews in return for a minimum $15 donation, I'm throwing it open to anyone who reads these pages: hit up the "donate" button at www.sillitoe.com (you'll find it at the top of the "Statue Fund" page) - I'll leave it up to you how much you want to contribute - then email me at alansillitoepage@hotmail.co.uk and let me know what film you'd like me to review.

Thanks for your support.



(PS. Tim - sorry for being an unoriginal bugger. And respect for what you achieved through the Carry On Campaign.)

4 comments:

BRENT said...

Using a Paypal account is a good way to go! If people get to the website through whatever means it gives a very quick easy method of becoming aware of the staue and how to contribute.
I hope it works out and people are generous! It certainly is a staggering amount you are trying to raise.

Neil Fulwood said...

Thanks, Brent. Donations are starting to come in through PayPal. Also, the University of Nottingham have contributed £1,000 (now all we need is another 59 universities to contribute the same amount!!!)

The great thing about having the website is that we've had some business cards with the web address on printed up and we're handing them out at events. That way, even if people can't make a donation on the day, they can visit the site later on and donate online.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some of Agitation's readers take me up on the donations-for-reviews offer: it would be nice to raise some money through the blog, and it might point me in the direction of a few films I've not seen before.

BRENT said...

I almost fell out of my chair....a university donating money! normally it is the other way around with them crying out for funding!! Well it is certainly the case in NZ.
But certainly it is a great gesture, and wouldn't it be nice 9 and easy ) if all the other UK unis came to the party.
It would be nice if you raise afew bob through your blog where you put in time and effort to get your message out there.
Me? I'm broke. I'm sure you know of Christchurch's earthquake and my spare money has been donated there. My own home town suffered a devasting earthquake in 1931 and we have lived in its shadow ever since. We had a magnitude 6 one just two days ago as a reminder!
It is a shame that so many things in life have to rely on charity and donations to achieve their goals.

Neil Fulwood said...

University of Nottingham gave Alan an honorary fellowship (or doctorate, or something) while he was still alive, so it was always a safe bet they'd contribute.

I've read about the Christchurch earthquake - and seen the footage - so kudos to you for donating there. To be honest with you, the average everyday working guy, in the current economic climate, probably won't have much they can contribute; our best hope is to use the website and the local events in combination to attract the attention of institutions/businesses and hope that they can donate decent enough sums to make the statue a reality.