Hi John,

I should introduce myself. I’m Roxana and I’m a member of the HOPE not hate campaign team. Thanks to hundreds of HOPE not hate supporters we have the full budget we need to work in Batley and Spen before, during and after the by-election. 

I want to give you an update on what will come next. 

We have two different – and really distinct – areas of work. Firstly, we’re gearing up a strong on-the-ground election campaign as we understand that there will be one, perhaps two, far right candidates standing in the election. 

We’ll be limited to door-to-door leafleting in target areas because the spending limit is low for an organisation like ours. But we’re confident that we can get the message across about the far right to the key voters that our data suggests  could help decide the election. 

Research has already started, different leaflets are getting drafted and we are crunching the data needed to draw up leaflet rounds.

Secondly, we are preparing to do the more community-focused work needed to deal with any fallout and division from the election. 

We will be actively supporting Great Get Together initiatives, that seek to bring people and communities together, and lay the groundwork for more intensive community work and resilience building for the post-election period.  

We’ve already started building relationships with community leaders in the area and discussing exciting community initiatives that could be rolled out over the summer.

Thanks again to everyone for the amazing support. We’re off and running.

— Roxy, and the whole HOPE not hate campaigns team