#24REASONSTOREMAIN
Poster and BOOKLET
(PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2018)
The 24 Reasons to Remain campaign targets the UK youth and aims to raise awareness of the benefits of EU membership to citizen’s lives, foster a sense of European identity and promote the EU’s core values. The 24 illustrations make an emotive and positive case for the EU that has long been absent in the UK.
The poster has been created by Madeleina Kay ‘Young European of the Year’ and the booklet is a collaborative work between her and Barry Pierce, with information sourced with the help of InFactsOrg.
The printing and distribution of 50000 posters and 10000 booklets was achieved through a crowdfunding campaign supported by 198 backers and private donations which raised a total of £5700. The printed material was launched at the Great Northern Stop Brexit conference in Leeds on 8th September 2018 as reported in the NewEuropean newspaper.
The #24ReasonstoRemain poster makes an emotive and compelling argument that fosters a sense of European identity and communicates educational content about the EU through visual language that is accessible to multi-lingual audience, and children from 6 years old. The aim of the booklet is to provide key factual information for an older audience aged 12 to adult,about the EU and likely impacts of Brexit so that readers can make an informed decision in a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal. The authors firmly believe that we are stronger when we work in collaboration with out European partners and we hope this booklet illustrates exactly why Brexit should be democratically stopped through a People’s Vote. The material is accessible to all ages, but specifically targets the youth as they are the key to reversing the 2016 Brexit vote, or if Brexit goes ahead, leading the campaign to rejoin the European Union in the future.
The campaign to disseminate the educational content and spread the positive pro-EU narrative has been achieved through an online social-media campaign using the hashtag #24ReasonstoRemain. The EU Flag Mafia campaign group are managing the distribution of the posters and booklets which has been crowdfunded. The materials have been delivered to over 35 grassroots Remain groups for free distribution and use at street stalls across the UK, and to help inform their own arguments when they are engaging with members of the public about Brexit whilst campaigning for a people’s Vote. Since the Electoral Commission determined that Vote Leave broke the law there is no doubt of the democratic requirement for another vote, but we need to ensure that we have actually changed people’s minds and perceptions of the EU and that they vote to Remain.
Copies of the material have also been given to key pro-EU and pro-Brexit political figures to promote the positive narrative about the benefits of EU membership and challenge Eurosceptic attitudes and populist discourse, including; Guy Verhofstadt, Michel Barnier, Nick Clegg, Chukka Umunna, Anna Soubry, Bob Geldof, Nigel Farage and Dominic Raab.
Madeleina has appeared on European, UK local and national media with the material talking about the need for better education in the UK so that we can begin to shift the culture and perceptions of the EU.