Reader-supported OnTheWight is fundraising until the end of June 2024.
As many readers will already understand, even though are articles are free to read, producing them costs money and that independent news providers like OnTheWight rely on support from our readers in order to avoid having to plaster the site with pop-ups and ads – something we really dislike on websites and is insulting to readers. After all, you came here to read the news, not to have to fight through ads to get to it.
We do offer small number of ad slots, but nowhere near enough to cover our costs.
Show your support
We realise times are tough for everyone, but please be as generous as you’re able.
Clicking the “Support OnTheWight” button below with take you to our page on Stripe, the online payment system that nearly every business uses, where you can put your card and amount details in.
Background
Long-time readers of OnTheWight will know that we have always tried to be as transparent as possible with our readers.
It was fairly simple in the early days (the site has been running since 2005), we just paid for server space, but these days, after 18+ years of articles, photos and podcasts, the OnTheWight site is huge and requires quite a chunky server to run. There are many, many other services that also have to be paid for monthly to keep the server secure and the service running smoothly.
In terms of outgoings, we still have two years remaining on the Government bounce back loan that we had no choice but to apply for back during the height of Covid, as the publication fell through the Government’s Covid-19 funding cracks.
What we’ll use the money for
We’d like to raise enough money this month to pay off the loan, thereby avoiding having to meet the monthly repayments for another 24 months – therefore our aim is £4,000.
As touched on above, the publication’s running costs are high – around £1,000/month. This doesn’t include our very modest salaries, but just paying for a wide variety of necessary online services such as newsletter software, spam filters, website hosting, back-ups, telecoms, accounting and much more.
If you’ve been a reader for sometime and value the work that we’ve carried out, please consider making a donation.
