After some deliberation the idea of opening a Yes Scotland shop in Stirling was born, and although shop rents were expensive, we were able to secure the lease on a small shop (200 sq. ft.) which had the benefit of plenty of footfall. The aim was to provide somewhere people who were leaning towards a No vote or were undecided could visit and chat with trained Yes ambassadors, ask any questions they may have and take away relevant resource material. We always said that as long as we broke-even then that would be enough but after being open for the last few months it is clear that there are opportunities to do much more and as we only get one chance to vote Yes we need to do all we can between now and September to secure that vote.
2. WHAT DO WE DO?
i) We provide a visible High Street presence for Yes Scotland. Stirling is one of Scotland's newest and most historic cities and indeed there is an old saying, "he who holds Stirling, holds Scotland", so we figured this was the ideal place to have the first Yes Scotland shop outside of Glasgow.
ii) We improve public confidence in the Yes campaign. By having a High Street presence people are saying, "We can see what the Yes campaign are doing, but what about the No campaign? Where are they, what are they doing?" We should also remember that increased confidence in the Yes campaign can only mean more Yes votes in September!
iii) We sell a range of Yes merchandise which encourages more people to pop in and talk to us. Very often people require more tangible reasons to become engaged and having merchandise on sale acts as an icebreaker. We make very little profit from sales of merchandise but we think it is more important to have people come through the door and talk to us so we see the merchandise as being complimentary to what we are trying to achieve.
iv) We engage with new customers to establish which point they are at in their independence 'journey'. Once identified we can then answer any questions and provide them with reference material to take away. We encourage them to come back as often as they like if they have anything further they need to discuss. Our team consists of trained Yes volunteers from all walks of life.
v) We recruit new volunteers - by having the shop open we meet new Yes supporters all the time. Very often they want to become involved in the campaign which is very useful as there's always plenty of work to be done; whether it's working in the shop, leafleting at street stalls, canvassing at doors or delivering newspapers all offers of help are gratefully welcomed.
vi) We give away lots of freebies - our staff are encouraged to give away badges and stickers to all Yes supporters. This is a grass roots campaign and wearing a badge or a sticker is the best way to get people to engage. It means that whether you are in the pub, supermarket or local shop, if you are displaying the Yes message then you are still 'working' for Yes, as people you know, (and some you don't) will very often start talking about the referendum and asking you why your voting Yes. Indeed the polls tell us that once people are engaged the direction of travel is from No or Undecided to Yes and not the other way round!
vii) We sign up unregistered voters - there are lots of unregistered voters in the Stirling area so people can pop in and sign the electoral registration form and we'll even send it off for them. A lot of 16 & 17 year old's don't even realise that they need to be registered to vote, so if you know any, be sure to let them know!
In the last four months the Yes shop has been visited by hundreds of ordinary people and has acted as a hub for all the Yes groups in the area but we need to keep the momentum going because the campaign is about to enter its most crucial phase. Of course providing this vital service costs money and this is something we don't have an endless supply of. We are therefore appealing to you and asking you to put your hands in your pocket and help Stirling and Scotland deliver a Yes vote in September. It would be a shame to have to stop now!
We are trying to raise £12,000, and here's how we would spend it:
3. RUNNING COSTS
Every business has running costs and we are no exception. Rent, water rates, insurance, telephone, internet, electricity and ink for our printer (not forgetting tea, coffee and chocolate biscuits to keep our volunteers going) are bills we have to pay every month. This works out at £650 per month or £3,250 in total until the end of September when our lease runs out
4. ADVERTISING
We have spent very little on advertising up until now but it needs to be done. We need people to know we are here by advertising in the press, radio and getting leaflets printed. We also give away a large amount of stickers, badges, pens, balloons and flags, not only to our customers, but to other Yes branches, and to other organisations holding Yes events. Although we have to pay for these ourselves we reckon that this is a worthwhile expense as exposure to the Yes brand is one of the best ways of engaging with the public and this is why we have included these in our advertising budget. This works out at another £550 per month or £2,750 in total until the end of September.
5. LEAFLETING CAMPAIGN
As well as advertising our shop we want to run a leafleting campaign promoting a Yes vote. We need to ensure that all 40,000+ households throughout the Stirling area get leafleted at least three times before September. This takes a huge amount of leaflets and a huge amount of effort. To get this done effectively we will need to pay for over 120,000 leaflets to be printed and pay Royal Mail for one or two of the delivery runs. We are budgeting £1,200 a month for this or £6,000 in total.
6. THE MIDDLE MAN
The fund raising site we use, Indiegogo, make running a fundraiser very easy and straight forward for us. Very reasonably they take a small fee for this service, which means that to actually raise £12,000 we have to take in another £720.
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And there you go, just like that, there's £12,000 spent. It's a lot of money but we think if you look at the breakdown above, it's money well spent!
Should we be lucky enough to exceed our goal we have a small list of 'stretch goals' which we would like to do, such as local billboard advertising, purchasing thousands of Saltire flags, sky balloon advertising and more - but the aim is clear - to make sure Stirling and Scotland delivers a resounding Yes vote in the referendum this September!
We know there are a lot of you out there, times are hard, and not everyone can spare some money. If you can't don't worry and don't send us anything you can't afford. There are plenty of other ways you can help; by sharing this page on your Facebook or Twitter accounts or by sharing this link with your friends and asking to them to share it as well.
But if you do have a few spare quid in your pocket, and a desire to win a Yes vote in September, then you could do no worse than by donating to our fabulous cause? We'll make sure we put every penny to good use!
