UPDATE: As the elections have passed, we are not accepting donations anymore. We'd like to thank all of you who donated to our campaign and supported us. We will share a detailed report on our expenses and how the fundraised money was spent shortly.

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We are Yulia Bakman and Helen Gerolaki, local residents of Alexandra Park ward, who ran as independent candidates in the May 2025 Haringey council elections.

Our aim was to strengthen local voices and improve transparency and accountability in local decision-making.

This fundraiser was aimed at reimbursing our spending over the regulated and pre-regulated elections period: the essential costs of running a small, fair local campaign for both of us. This amount was sufficient to cover most of our expenses, including printing leaflets, stickers, other marketing materials, and the operational costs involved in running the campaign. As this was a joint campaign for Helen and Yulia, the funds raised were shared equally between both campaigns’ expenses.

As independent candidates, we were not backed by a party machine and were therefore at a disadvantage. Unlike political parties, we did not have access to the electoral register or postal vote data before we became officially registered, and we had to navigate all legal and compliance requirements ourselves. This involved some unavoidable additional costs.

Thank you for supporting an independent, community-funded campaign.

Read more about us: https://www.alexandraparkindependents.co.uk