Hi everyone! Thanks for visiting our buymeacoffee (aka running the eco essex community) fundraising page.
Before running a community like this, I wouldn't have realised that there were costs involved in doing so, but it turns out there is, if we want to do it well.
In order to attend events we have realised that if we want to appear professional we need more than scrap paper and old cardboard box displays. So therefore, we have had to pay out for items such as a quick gazebo (as putting up other gazebos has been very time consuming and stressful for our volunteers), tables, professional displays, posters as well as sometimes funding freebie (sustainable) items to engage the public in discussions. This doesn't include the fuel of course to travel around Essex for different events or any public liability insurance either.
When it comes to online support, as we know social media is free however, our website is not. There are fees each year to pay for to keep a website running let alone being able to pay for the professional support to keep the website ticking over virus-free without crashing, a role that none of our current volunteers feel competent doing.
We know how amazing our community is but we also know a lot of people are struggling financially, which is why we are asking for those of you who can afford to, please would you consider donating JUST £5 to help us with cover our costs (we had hope 'buymeacoffee' would allow us £1 option donation button but it doesn't appear to!).
Maybe you could club together with another Eco Essex member?
Many thanks,
Eco Essex team