THIS column had a break last week due to the excellent bumper May Day edition, which went down a treat at May Day rallies up and down the land. 

A big thank you to all who ordered papers to take to these events. I am hoping that those fortunate enough to have picked up a complimentary copy will have been enticed into reaching for a copy either online or when they see it while out shopping. The best way in either scenario is to take out a regular subscription. 

Conference season is in full swing with the TUC black workers taking place today, as well as TSSA celebrating their 125th anniversary at their annual delegates meeting in Sheffield followed by the FBU conference in Brighton.  

At all these events we will have a presence with the paper being provided complimentary by their respective union. 

If you are attending these conferences do come along and introduce yourself, and let’s talk about increasing readership of the paper among your fellow trade union comrades. 

We are beginning to see a few successes. A number of union branches have been in touch to inquire about bulk digital subscriptions for their branches and regions and these have led to firm commitments.  

When we launched Reach for the Star we did say 1,000 new readers but it’s a net cash increase of £220,000 a year that needs to be raised. 

A thousand new readers is the simple equation but there are many ways to reach the total — how about 6,000 weekend readers? 

I am fortunate enough to be able to speak to many people in the newspaper industry and it was reassuring to have validation of our sales strategy by others in the trade and to gain their full support where they are able.  

However the bulk of the work to be done is down to you, our readers. If you buying the paper once a week please consider buying it on another day and the same if you are buying it on a couple of days buy it on a few more.

At the CWU conference one delegate came to grab a paper from the stall as they needed to refer to an article when they spoke on a motion. What a great compliment to the paper.  

The paper is an invaluable tool for all activists and, as the great Kevin Halpin would comment, it’s impossible to be a trade union activist without reading it. 

So go on this coming week — reach for a Star.

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