By a PCS member
Following a motion passed at my central civil service union branch’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), about raising funds for the TUC Iraq Appeal, a sub-committee of our Executive Committee (BEC) was set up. It discussed a number of fund raising ideas including karaoke, showing a film about the trade union movement in Iraq and a quiz night but finally we settled on the idea of a second hand book stall including a weigh the cake competition and a cake making competition.
Once we decided on the event we booked a room close to the staff canteen, put an appeal out to branch members to donate books and cakes for the competition.
Our schedule of events for our fund raising day tried to make sure something was happening throughout the day and included a talk by Muayad Ahmed from the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq (FWCUI).
It was a lot of work but worth it. We had a steady stream of members visiting us throughout the day. The Iraqi speaker went down very well and sparked a lively debate and we raised £225 for the Iraqi TUC Appeal. The day was so popular we intend to run another fund raising event for the FWCUI.
