Calling all Blue alumni – we’d like to ask a favour of you if you have the time to read this. Recently, we’ve seen the publication grow. Hundreds of brand-new articles a year, over 70 members of hard-working staff, and all of this whilst remaining committed to our mission of providing no-experience-needed opportunities in student journalism. We owe our alumni the warmest thanks. Because of you, we’ve established ourselves as a leading Oxford newspaper, and in January 2025, we were thrilled to win the SPA award for Best Digital Publication in the South East. This year, we’re celebrating our fifth birthday, and we’d like to say a big thank you to all of you who joined us on this journey.
The work you put in for The Blue hasn’t gone unnoticed. However, we now humbly ask for your help. The Blue is a C.I.C. company, so we have relied on JCR funding to keep going. With the growth of our paper, that funding is no longer enough to cover our running costs and support the everyday operations of The Blue. Now, we are facing financial challenges that threaten to close our doors.
If you would consider making a small donation to The Oxford Blue, it would be greatly appreciated. Here are a few things that you’d be doing by contributing to our appeal:
- You would be supporting our mission to give all students, regardless of experience, their start in journalism, media, and online publishing. Through your donation, you could contribute directly to helping students who otherwise may not have the opportunity to build journalistic and creative skills that will aid their careers for years to come.
- By donating, you are offering support towards writing freely about important matters of public interest. Avenues into investigative journalism are opened by the independence of The Blue, bringing our readers vital information about their academic environment and local current affairs.
- Your donation can keep our website up and running, where we can generate essential ad revenue to pay for our website and domain.
- Donating to us expands our opportunities. With funding, we can participate in and organise panels, events, and more, to help our staff and the student body as a whole explore the world of journalism and make significant steps and connections with well-established newspapers, journalists, and media figures.
All this and more can continue to take place with a contribution from you.
If just twenty alumni donated just £10, we could fund our whole print run this year. Imagine what could be achieved if everyone who read this donated just a small amount to The Blue?
We hope that you enjoyed your time at The Blue, and you’ll consider keeping it running for the next generation of budding student journalists.
Alumni – thank you.