Please don’t struggle through the next few weeks without food or heating because December’s money runs out before January’s arrives.

I have set up #NotOnOurWatchCampaign up to use my music in a way that stands in solidarity with all those our failed State has left behind. It is an attempt, no matter how futile, to shore up the dam, to hold back the flood, and I will move heaven and earth to help if I can.

Message me if you are struggling, and I will try to raise small amounts to get you through those days you would otherwise be going cold and hungry. It’s NOT charity. I believe it has become a responsibility now to stand in defiance of the poison that dominates parliament, and to stand in solidarity with all of its victims in any way possible.

My work with We Shall Overcome, and especially that alongside Pauline Town, has shown me austerity has impacted on our communities in many different ways, from those made street homeless to those targeted for benefit sanctions; from those on poverty wages and zero hours contracts to those tricked into becoming ‘self-employed’; from those losing out on Universal Credit to those whose empty bedroom takes all their food money, or whose disability claim is fraudulently turned down by those being paid handsomely by the tax payer to save the tax payer money.

All of these problems and no one solution to any of it.

But we can try.

One of the conversations I have had most is with people who went 48 hours hungry and cold because the money ran out before the wages or the benefit payment arrived. It is desperately sad to hear people you know and love going through this, and it simply should not be happening.

Small amounts can stop this. £5/£10/£20 is often all it takes, but it is a hidden effect of austerity because the suffering it inflicts is short-term, relatively minor, and not worth column inches in a newspaper.

Unless you’re going through it.

Then the guilt, the sense of helplessness, the wounded pride, the impotent rage are overwhelming.

So I want to try and stop as many people as I can from going through it.

Message me, entirely in confidence, and with no strings attached. It isn’t a loan. It is one way I can use music to fight back. If I can get you to payday I will, and judging from the messages I have received in support of this, we can raise more if we need it.

We can, we must, and we will fight back and ultimately we will win; but in the meantime the offer of help is here if you need it.

Do not suffer in silence.

Message me.

In solidarity
Joe ✊❤️👊