Campaigner's novel fundraising idea

A COMMUNITY campaigner has come up with the novel idea of using his short stories to raise money to buy a piece of hi-tech equipment for the benefit of people in Llangollen.  

Martin Crumpton, who has previously spearheaded battles in the town to prevent a new Sainsbury’s supermarket being built and also the closure of the cottage hospital, has now turned his attention to a new project to buy a 3D printer and scanner for the community. 

To reach his target figure of around £3,000 he is inviting people to download samples of his own short stories in exchange for a donation to the appeal. 

Running to a few hundred words each, the stories include titles such as Job Satisfaction, which revolves around a humorous brush with the devil, and Motherload, which is about young love. 

Mr Crumpton said: “My aim is to raise enough money to buy our community group a 3D printer to give schoolchildren and entrepreneurs new skills in an emerging and exciting technology.  

“Llangollen needs these new skills to retain these bright youngsters and encourage business

start-ups. 

“Some of the stories are humorous, others will appeal to anyone with an advanced appreciation of the

absurd, and some are very noire indeed.

“So there’s something for everyone and they’re all original, written by me, and across a whole range of genres.”

He added: “The deal is simple. People can download my sample stories and if they like them enough and think the cause is worthy, they can make a donation.

“So far, I’ve had downloads from the UK, the Philippines, Italy, Germany, Greece, the Russian Federation and the USA.

“If the project raises enough money, I may offer my novel, The Legacy of Hafod, on a similar deal.”

The sample stories are available in eBook and PDF formats. PDF bit.ly/1bvxvlk, EPUB bit.ly/1fLRtJ1

Mr Crumpton is also promoting them on Twitter (@No_Supermarket) and Facebook (Llangollen Preservation and Keep Llangollen Special).