We're on Crowdfunder!

We're looking forward to publication of our Vale Rawlings book Friendship, Love & Truth. Only 250 printed copies will be available to buy before Christmas 2025. So, we've decided to set up a Crowdfunder page so that people can donate to our Community Interest Company and choose a copy of the book as a reward.

The Vale Rawlings Project CIC raises money for two local charities, YMCA Burton and SARAC as well as raising awareness of forgotten stories from Burton upon Trent.

For a £16 donation on Crowdfunder, you can pre-order the Vale book for collection in Burton upon Trent as soon as it is received from the publishers, which will be before Christmas. If you live further afield you can donate £20 and a book will be posted to any UK postal address. Unfortunately, we cannot handle orders from outside the UK, but Amazon will be able to do that once the book goes live on there.

Author Elaine Pritchard explained, "In 2022, when I released my first forgotten Burton story book on Orton & Spooner, I did a Crowdfunder where people could choose a copy of the book as a reward. All the copies of Labour of Love - the Orton and Spooner story sold out and the book is only available now from Amazon. So far more than £5,300 has been raised through that project for Burton Mind.

To read more about the Crowdfunder campaign, to see the rewards that are available, or to make a donation, go to crowdfunder.co.uk/vale-rawlings

Elaine said, "Thank you to the early Crowdfunders who have already made donations. Demand for the help SARAC and YMCA Burton provide in Vale's home town, is in greater demand than ever.

" SARAC has recently undergone a restructure so that it can continue to help and support those affected by sexual abuse in today's challenging financial climate. The charity remains fully-committed to its strategy and hopes the restructure will be a temporary measure as it seeks to secure further funding. We are proud to be raising money for SARAC at such a pivotal moment.

"YMCA Burton will shortly be embarking on its annual fundraiser, the Sleepout at Burton Albion football club on Friday November 7th, which makes a massive contribution to the money that the YMCA locally needs to deliver its services and support for those who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, and its food parcels for those experiencing food poverty, which can include families on low and uncertain incomes.

"My co-director Will Walker and I chose these two charities as we felt they resonated strongly with Vale's story and the values he demonstrated throughout his life. He was jailed in 1914 after supporting vulnerable young women and girls working for a pittance at a local factory. In 1929, he also spoke out publicly following the tragic death of a young woman at Burton Workhouse. He supported families at risk of being made homeless during World War One, after landlords in Burton wanted to raise their rents, and he volunteered with the Burton Voluntary Aid Association which worked to relieve poverty in the town. He was instrumental in getting a minimum weekly wage and maximum weekly hours for brewery labourers, which put an estimated £30,000 in the pockets of Burton's working classes. Between the wars he had his own small market garden business in Branston, and frequently gave away food to those who needed it and could not pay."

You can read more about all these stories, and much more besides, in the book Friendship, Love & Truth. The book will also include the script of Strikers! our play about Vale Rawlings, which was performed at Burton Town Hall in December 2024.