On 22^nd May 2014, along with our counterparts in other European countries, the UK's Animal Welfare Party will attempt to make history by returning dedicated representatives for animals to the EU Parliament for the first time ever.

Wherever you are in the world, if you're an animal lover or simply someone who believes in justice, fairness and compassion, this is a crucial moment in the history of mankind and our expression of who we are and who we want to be in relation to the animals and environment around us.

Will we take this opportunity to step up? To re-define what it means to be human? To extend the circle of compassion to include the non human and the less powerful?

Yes, with your help, AWP believes we will.

If you agree that it's time to write a new chapter in the history of mankind, then please help the Animal Welfare Party 2014 EU Election Campaign today. 

We need around 140,000 votes in London (our target constituency) in order to win a seat. We know we can do it because estimates tell us there are around half a million members of the electorate in London following some kind of vegetarian diet – and therefore likely to be warm to our policies. That's three times enough people to vote us into that seat and make history for the animals!

Of course there are many more members of the electorate who aren't vegetarian but who are pet owners, wildlife and animal enthusiasts. We hope all will support our campaign to make history for animals.

But here's the challenge: Many people simply aren't aware that we exist. And here's the second challenge: Voter apathy is at an all time low - a whopping 66% of the London electorate didn't think it was worth going to vote in the last EU election. We have to change that! We desperately need to get the message out to all Londoners that our party exists and is worth voting for a thousand times over. And to get that message out, as far and wide as possible, we need funds.

The Animal Welfare Party is a small party, to date run entirely by volunteers.

But although we may be small, we have huge ambition – because the animals don't deserve anything less.

We're looking to raise around £85,000 for our EU Election Campaign by the end of 2013.

We know that might sound like a lot but we also know there are around 4 million adult vegetarians in the UK - millions more worldwide. Since the ripples of success in these elections would be felt around the world, we hope kind-hearted, compassionate people all around the world will see the value in donating to our campaign. We know times are hard and many people don't have much money to spare. But if we can make this a worldwide effort then we really don't need to ask for a lot from each individual. Even donating a little as £1 (about $1.60 US) and then sharing details of our campaign with your friends, family and networks will help. After all, if every vegetarian adult in the UK donated £1, we'd have £4 million. If every vegetarian in the US joined in, that would be another £22 million. If pet owners, wildlife enthusiasts and all those who love animals joined in too we'd have even more. Get the picture? We like to think big!

Of course, if you can donate more than £1 that would help our campaign even more – but every amount, however small or large, will help.

The £85,000 we're hoping to raise would be to help us undertake the following crucial steps in spreading the word about our party as far and wide as possible:

• Design and print enough leaflets for every household in the London constituency – that's around 3.5 million leaflets – and if we can print them, Royal Mail will distribute them for free!

• Produce a party political broadcast and other video content

• Advertise and promote our party on social networks

• Produce content for and purchase advertising space in prime locations in the media and out of home

• Design and produce promotional merchandise including a wider range of AWP clothing for humans and some of our four-legged friends

• Hire bigger office space for our growing network of interns and volunteers who want to get involved in our campaign

• Hold information stalls across London and the UK

And, if we make more than our target figure, we'll review whether or not to stand in additional constituencies around the UK. There are 12 constituencies in total and it costs around £5000 to stand a candidate in each one.

And, if we don't reach our entire goal, the funds will go first towards ensuring we can print enough leaflets to reach every household in London. 

What You Get

Well, apart from that warm, fuzzy feeling knowing you've played your part in making the world a better place, we've got some pretty unique perks on offer for all those lovely, wonderful and kind-hearted people who help our campaign.

Donate £1 and receive our eternal gratitude for acting to make the world a better place – and we really mean that!

Donate £5 and you'll be entered into our prize draw to win just one copy of the 'Meat the Truth' documentary on DVD, signed by the Leader of the Dutch Party and the film's presenter, Marianne Thieme

Donate £7.50 and be entered into our prize draw to win a 1.5 hour, private cookery lesson with award winning vegan chef, Tony Bishop Weston at Brighton VegFest (29th and 30th March 2014). Tony is the author of four books and is passionate about demonstrating that creating mouthwatering and healthy plant-based dishes is within the capabilities of all. Tony will tailor this one on one, bespoke session to your current culinary ability. Prize can be redeemed on 29th or 30th March 2014. Travel to location not included. More information on Tony can be found at foodsforlife.org.uk

Donate £10 and receive an AWP badge and personalised thank you note from the party Leader, Vanessa Hudson (to UK addresses)

Donate £15 and receive an AWP badge and personalised thank you note from the party Leader, Vanessa Hudson (to non-UK addresses)

Donate £40 and receive an Animal Welfare Party fair trade t-shirt signed by the party leader, Vanessa Hudson, an AWP badge and personalised thank you note (to UK addresses)

Donate £45 and receive an Animal Welfare Party fair trade t-shirt signed by the party leader, Vanessa Hudson, an AWP badge and personalised thank you note (to addresses within Europe)

Donate £50 and receive an Animal Welfare Party fair trade t-shirt signed by the party leader, Vanessa Hudson, an AWP badge and personalised thank you note (to addresses outside Europe)

Donate £100 and receive a 'Writer' credit on the 'History' page of our website, an Animal Welfare Party fair trade t-shirt signed by the party leader, Vanessa Hudson, an AWP badge and personalised thank you note

Donate £500 and receive a 'Writer' credit on the 'History' page of our website, coffee and vegan cake for two with party leader, Vanessa Hudson in a central London location, an Animal Welfare Party fair trade t-shirt signed by the party leader, Vanessa Hudson, an AWP badge and personalised thank you note (coffee and cake to be taken January to March 2013)

Donate £1000 and receive a 'Writer' credit on the 'History' page of our website, dinner for two at a London vegetarian restaurant with the party leader, Vanessa Hudson and Veterinary Advisor, Andre Menache (Andre is listed in Who's Who in the World, 19th edn., Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Millennium edn. and is a recipient of a 21st century award for achievement from the International Biographical Centre (Cambridge).(Dinner to be taken January to March 2013)

Donate £2500 and receive a 'once in a lifetime' dining experience brought to you by award winning, vegan chef Tony Bishop Weston. Tony is the author of four books and is passionate about creating mouthwatering and healthy plant-based dishes. Tony and assistant will come to your home and create a sumptuous dinner for 6- tailored around your likes. All you have to do is decide which friends you want to impress! Prize must be redeemed between January and June 2014. (Due to UK regulations this 'perk' can only be made available to UK residents, registered on a UK electoral register). 

Other Ways You Can Help

We know that not everyone can contribute financially, but that doesn’t mean you can't play a part in this exciting page of history or maybe you've been able to donate and would like to help further. Below are other ways you can get involved today:

• Use the indiegogo share tools to share this campaign with others who might be interested

• Find us on Facebook facebook and Twitter  twitter and make a commitment to sharing our posts and tweets once or twice a week (write it in your diaries and calendars so you don't forget) – sharing our posts with your networks only takes a second and will cost you nothing but it could help us reach a whole new audience who aren't aware of our existence. You could be the vital key to us winning the 140,000 votes we need

• If you live in London and are eligible to vote in the EU elections then you can vote for the Animal Welfare Party

• If you haven't already, register to vote today. Visit aboutmyvote.co.uk

• Visit our website animalwelfareparty.org and pledge to vote AWP today – knowing ahead of time how close we are to our goal of 140,000 votes will really help our campaign be as effective as possible – so don't delay, pledge to vote AWP today

• Do you live in London and have regular free time? Could you be a volunteer involved in our election campaign? If so, get in touch via the contact form on our website animalwelfareparty.org

• Could you help with leafleting closer to election time? If so get in touch via the contact form on our website animalwelfareparty.org

• Mark the date of 22^nd May 2014 in your diaries and calendars, don't plan anything that would prevent you from making it to the polling station that day

• Remember, at the last EU election 66% of the electorate didn't vote. Why not make a commitment to voting early in the morning and then posting on facebook or twitter about the fact that you've voted. Your friends and family might be reminded to vote – or even better inspired to vote at the last minute – and all because of you!

If you have ideas of your own for helping to spread the word about us, please feel free to get in touch via the contact form on our website animalwelfareparty.org

With the help of kind-hearted, compassionate, creative people like you we know we can do this!

A Pan-European Movement 

The Animal Welfare Party is proud to be one of five European animal protection parties contesting the May 2014 EU Parliament elections. Our shared goal is to return dedicated representatives for animals to the EU Parliament for the first time ever.

More information about each of these parties can be found below:

Partij voor de Dieren - The Netherlands

partyfortheanimals.nl

PACMA - Spain 

pacma.es

Partei Mensch, Umwelt, Tierschutz - Germany

tierschutzpartei.de

PAN - Portugal 

pan.com.pt

Please take action today, in whatever way you can, to make our shared goal happen.

On behalf of the animals – thank you!