[SGRupdate] SGR Appeal 2018

[Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR)]

Dear Colleague

SGR Appeal 2018

Will you help SGR make the world a safer place and support its urgent
campaigns for more responsible science?

>From nuclear weapons modernisation and rapid developments in military robotics
to complacency over climate change and other environmental problems, the world
faces enormous threats. SGR – part of the campaign awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2017 – has been very active addressing these crises but we need your
help to continue to do so.

A donation from you now would really help SGR to continue our important work.

You can donate via
http://mydonate.bt.com/events/sgr2018appeal/478276

Your past generosity has been vital in advancing the cause of responsible
science, design and technology. For example, in recent months SGR has:

- Published a new briefing, Artificial intelligence: how little has to go
wrong? This was launched to coincide with our annual conference on the same
issue – and highlights concerns that the current direction of AI and robotics
research could entrench existing problems, especially in weapons development,
inequality and over-consumption of resources.

- Promoted ethical careers in science, design and technology – both via stalls
at science festivals, universities and schools, and through a new research
project looking at providing careers information in a more engaging way.

- Challenged military involvement in science, which included campaigning
against the rapidly expanding EU arms R&D budget, and inputting to two new
reports, one on arms conversion and another on lethal autonomous weapons.

- Supported a formal complaint against the Science Museum over its receipt of
sponsorship from the fossil fuel industry, and helped anti-fracking
campaigners with analysis of local environmental data.

- Continued to make the case for the new nuclear ban treaty through media
articles, talks and support for other campaign groups.

Your donation will help us both to continue with similar activities and to
carry out much more. Our plans include:

- Publishing a new report on the links between science and engineering
charities and arms and fossil fuel corporations.

- Running educational activities for school children as part of our
Science4Society Week in March and as part of our new project One Planet One
Life which runs workshops on sustainable living. Both are being offered to
schools as science-based alternatives to activities sponsored by arms and
fossil fuel corporations.

- Redevelopment of our main website to reach larger audiences. In the last
year, there have been over 360,000 visits to our two websites – an impressive
level – but the software on our main site is now out-dated, limiting its
reach.

- Being an active member of a brand new, international alliance delivering
evidence-based hope for the possibility of rapid transitions to prevent
climate breakdown.

- Continuing our existing campaign work towards a more ethical agenda right
across science, design and technology.

We are proud of our work, but effect effective campaigning costs money. To
continue to promote this agenda, we need your support!

Make your donation go further:

For our charitable work, we can accept support from the Martin Ryle Trust
(MRT). If you pay UK Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax, the MRT can claim from
HM Revenue and Customs 25p for every pound that you donate, out of the tax
that you have already paid. This means that a £50 donation to MRT, for
example, is worth £62.50 at no extra cost to you and will be used entirely to
support SGR’s work. This is the route we are recommending for this appeal -
via the MyDonate website – see:

http://mydonate.bt.com/events/sgr2018appeal/478276

Consider a legacy:

If you have not already included SGR or the Martin Ryle Trust as a beneficiary
in your will, may we suggest that you consider it? For more details, please
look at this webpage - http://www.sgr.org.uk/pages/martin-ryle-trust - or if
you do not have internet access, please contact the SGR office for a copy of
the MRT legacy leaflet.

Will you help us make the world a safer, fairer place? Your contribution is
vital in keeping up our important work, and any donation you make will be put
to effective use and is very gratefully received. We look forward to hearing
from you soon.

Yours sincerely

Dr Philip Webber
Chair

Dr Jan Maskell
Vice-chair

Scientists for Global Responsibility
http://www.sgr.org.uk