Dear John,

2020 has been an unpredictable whirlwind to say the least. So, as we pass the halfway mark, we invite you to join us to take a breath and look back at what we’ve achieved so far... 

Thousands of you kickstarted the year by doing Positive Money’s 2020 survey. A shining example of what makes us a people-powered organisation, the results are always invaluable and this year was no exception. Hearing your concern for the climate crisis and desire to maximise media coverage, we wasted no time in putting them into action! 

Our first target? The new Governor of the Bank of England. We scored an early win when our open letter demanding Andrew Bailey step up on climate action, not only caught press attention, but the eye of Julie Marsden MP. After she put him on the spot Bailey said excluding fossil fuels would be a “priority” for the Bank - certainly a step in the right direction for the new Governor.

On 23rd March, the Prime Minister announced a nationwide lockdown in response to Covid-19 and, as for everyone, life as we knew it juddered to a halt. While the PoMo team adjusted to life working at our kitchen tables, we didn’t let that stop us campaigning.

As the government launched huge spending programs to tackle the economic fallout, the time was ripe for Positive Money’s key messages. We didn’t waste any time in demanding the Bank of England use its money creation powers for public good. A couple of weeks later, the Bank announced it was willing to do just that - by doing direct monetary financing to fund government spending during the crisis. This was great news because it proves the government doesn’t have to take on debt to finance its spending. But since the government has yet to take up the Bank’s offer, this was just the start of our work. Dozens of blogs, videos, open letters and pieces of media coverage soon followed.

We sped into April with our very first webinar to mark the launch of our new report ‘Money We Trust’. Hundreds tuned in from around the world to hear our ideas for a public digital currency - the need for which is only growing as the war on Covid morphs into another vehicle for the war on cash, and politicians search for a way to deliver economic relief directly into people’s hands.

Our virtual successes continued to mount in May, when almost 900 people joined our second webinar to celebrate the publication of ‘The Tragedy of Growth’.

Executive Director Fran Boait welcomed Caroline Lucas MP, Clive Lewis MP, Lord Deben and Professor Guy Standing to discuss steps towards a post-growth economy. Our accompanying poll, which showed 8 out of 10 people want an economy that prioritises public health over economic growth, got great coverage in The Guardian and a shoutout from leading environmentalist George Monbiot! We thus anticipated the swell in public demand we are now seeing to build back better after this crisis.

Local Groups have moved temporarily online too! Positive Money Devon have hosted webinars so they can keep tackling the big issues facing our money and banking system. If you’d like to get involved or host your own, join in the conversation on our online forum, Mobilise.

In June we turned our sights back to the Bank of England and their broken bailout scheme: the Covid Corporate Financing Facility. Soon we were celebrating another win! The scheme was originally set up to hand out millions in public money to Britain’s biggest businesses in secret, but we quickly launched a campaign demanding the Bank come clean. Within a week we’d hit 5,000 signatures and within the month the Bank changed its policy and made details of the scheme public. A perfect example of the influence Positive Money can have when our policy prowess and passionate supporters join together! 

Our research team continued to dive into the CCFF in July and published a report exposing the true social and environmental cost of these corporate bailouts. Our latest petition demanding the Bank of England attach strings to these bailouts is nearly at 10,000 signatures. Now we also know that ⅔ of the public are behind us, we’ve got no reason to slow down! 

We’re keeping our eye on the war on cash that banks and card companies have ramped up during the coronavirus pandemic. We’re discussing with cash campaigners how we can intervene to not only protect cash, but promote it as a safe and democratic option.

July also saw some changes to our staff team. After five years leading our Policy and Advocacy work, valued team member David Clarke moved on. David’s hard work with Parliament helped build the strong political reputation Positive Money has today. He also spearheaded our work on protecting access to cash, writing the Future of Cash report, and giving dozens of media interviews to draw the spotlight onto the issue. He’ll be sorely missed but we wish him all the best! Danisha Kazi also joined us as our new Senior Economist, she jumped in feet first by contributing to the CCFF report and penning two blog posts so far on debt and unemployment. Across the channel, PoMo Europe is also picking up steam, welcoming Campaign Manager Paul Creeny and Economist Uuriintuya Batsaikhan to their team in the Spring. They’re currently on the look out for a Finance and Operations Manager - in case you know anyone who might be interested. 

We're very proud of the achievements we've made in the last six months, but we also recognise this period has been challenging, frightening and full of heartache for many people. This has been a very tough time for many of us, but it is also a time to demand a brighter future, and to try and bring about the reforms Positive Money has been seeking for the last decade. We've been able to push for important changes because we've been building a resilient and powerful movement for years - people coming together to build a stronger, fairer future. Thank you for being part of it.  

And the next 6 months? Keep an eye out in August for a new series of webinars tackling race, debt, inequality and how we can make the most of the magic money tree, while autumn will see Positive Money celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Though Covid-19 may interrupt some of our plans, we’ll surely still find a way to mark it.

Many thanks for all that you do, 

Hannah, Rachel and the rest of the Positive Money team

Positive Money relies on donations from generous individuals like you to carry out our research, education work and campaign for a fairer money and banking system.
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