WITH the notoriously lean summer months looming in front of us it’s time to take stock.

Earlier in this edition we introduced you to our new business manager Chris Guiton.

In three months a whirlwind of changes have swept through the Morning Star, but you would be forgiven for not noticing.

We’ve come a long way since my first shift back in 2001, toiling in the derelict surroundings of a near-empty east London office block on computers that were so slow we had to wait for them to catch up with us.

From 12 pages in black and white we’ve grown to 16 in full colour from Monday to Friday and to 24 on a Saturday.

With a young and talented journalistic staff the bar has been well and truly raised.

And with the backroom appointments we’ve made over the past three months, alongside existing familiar names and faces for many of you, the long-term prognosis for our paper has the potential to be one not just of stability but of the growth and development that we have all long craved and which I believe will place the Morning Star into the position it deserves within the rest of the media.

A voice that channels the demands of anti-austerity, trade union freedom, decency, liberty and justice to the heart of the cosy neoliberal Establishment.

Despite this new era of potential, the financial challenges of producing a newspaper day in, day out continue to take their toll.

Our strategy is to tackle the underlying monetary issues that have long held us back, teetering from crisis to crisis over the years.

We will never have the financial arsenal that other news outlets can wield, but we do have a unique secret weapon that they do not — you, our readers and owners.

We thought long and hard before announcing our Summer of Heroes appeal.

But ultimately, despite renewed energy, drive and focus, it became clear that with the lull in income that hits regular as clockwork each summer, we would struggle to raise our game quickly enough to see things through — both in securing the vital funding we need for new technology and in bridging the long-term gap in our finances.

And there was another reason, too — our desire to reach out to our readers and forge strong new links. To identify our activist base and make ourselves more relevant to the campaigning and political work that so many of you do.

In the six weeks since we launched our campaign you have done wonders. Already there is a buzz of activism around the paper that is new and tangible. Your creativity, loyalty and innovation continue to astound.

Since May 16 over £26,000 has been raised. We know that summer events will increase the pace of fundraising, but we also know that July and August are going to be tough months for your paper too.

So we have to raise the stakes.

Our fundraising efforts will need to be intensified in order to keep on track for our £150,000 summer target.

This cash shortfall must now become our focus if we are to see in our 85th birthday not just still here but in the position of strength that our newly enhanced team and our strategic vision lead us to believe we can achieve.

So, readers, friends and longstanding supporters, once again we set down a challenge — a six-week sprint as part of our summer fundraising appeal.

To hit the target we need to raise £92,647 by July 31.

Spread the message far and wide, through your contacts, at meetings, on social media and beyond.

The Morning Star has a bright future — we need you to help us secure it.