Newsletter No 3
When the power of love overcomes the love of power there will be peace in the world.

Welcome to this somewhat overdue newsletter.

I hope you are in good health and are enjoying what remains of a globally troubled 2003.

Over the past year at Metta, we've been busy improving the site and enhancing the information, listings and services available to the substantially growing number of visitors.

The improvements to date have led to a significant increase in visitor numbers, and Metta.org.uk now receives over 550,000 hits each month. This is great news as it means the services and information here are reaching a wide audience and I hope adds to the awareness and health of  visitors.  However, this growth has led to something of a crisis. In technical terms the server cannot cope and we need to move to a new server due to the high demand on the processor and RAM within the current server.

This move will cost money and as metta is a not for profit service the income does not currently exist to cover the cost of maintaining and running this service.

There are a limited number of options open to us (your suggestions are welcome).

The obvious one is to charge a subscription in the region of £3 to ALL those who are listed at Metta, therapists, yoga teachers etc. and £30 to professional organisations, holistic centres, charities etc. The limited income from private companies whose support has been invaluable and we hope will continue cannot be increased  to cover all of the running costs.

however, this policy may cause all sorts of problems for those who are just starting out and have very limited resources or who are also not for profit with similar financial problems etc.

Therefore we are now asking everyone who is listed for a voluntary contribution of £6.  This seems a reasonable request especially as it represents at least one more years coverage within the listings.

To those few who have sent in contributions over the last few years, your support is really appreciated but we need to add quite substantially to this and raise around £1300 as soon as possible or Metta may have to close down!

We hope that once Metta.org.uk gets over this current crises other sources of income can be found (Commercial advertising and sponsorship etc)

As resources and information have been added, Metta has continued to grow and we hope to continue to make Metta a useful resource as well as a fun place for people to visit.  Metta will continue to expand coverage of a wide range of alternative and holistic issues and act as a single information point for all things "holistic" in the UK. We hope all listings will remain freely available  to individuals and charitable organisations with a voluntary contribution still being requested to help maintain Metta. As Metta has grown we had hoped to remove the need for this request, sadly the small number of past contributions has led to financial problems in part due to the growing popularity of the site.

Much work still remains to be done.   We are still looking for help with editorial contributions from those of you with an understanding of specific therapies and treatments.

The Therapies section has been expanded a little over the last few months but urgently needs editorial input from those that are familiar with currently listed, and other therapies. We are looking for brief summaries describing in lay terms how specific therapies work and what they can offer.

If you have a web site or home page we would also very much appreciate a link to Metta.org.uk. Various methods are available including a search box which can be placed on your web site. Details of the various methods are available at Link to Metta We would also welcome the opportunity to send some leaflets to you. If you are able to make these available to your visitors please me know.

Below are a few links to various elements of Metta which may have gone unnoticed or are new.

If you think this email would be is of interest to your friends and colleagues please feel free to forward it to them.

Kind regards
Mark Craig
for metta.org.uk
http://www.metta.org.uk/
THE HOLISTIC INFORMATION SITE

Metta.co.uk and metta.org.uk are the same
organisation operating on a not for profit basis.

You can send you comments, suggestions, even criticisms to Metta anonymously
by visiting the feedback page at http://www.metta.org.uk/feedback.asp or by letter to:

Metta.org.uk
7 Broomborough Drive
Totnes, Devon
TQ9 5LT

All cheques should be made payable to Metta.org.uk, please do not send cash through the post.

LINKS TO VARIOUS AREAS OF METTA

Astrology Including weekly general forecasts and the opportunity to order charts and forecasts on line.
Discussion Forums Yoga, General, Help and Wisdom
Fun Stuff A few jokes and things to do for younger and older visitors alike including a light hearted personality test.
Events - Date Specific workshops and events
Rune Stones - Including One and Three Rune spreads on line.
Yoga Probably the longest on line listings in the UK
Words Wisdom, inspiration and fun.
Recommended Books - Professional, self help and more.
Holistic Travel Information and Links to holistic travel companies
Publications - A short list of ecological and holistic publications
Professional Therapies
Retreats Throughout the UK mainland
Small Ads - For sale and wanted etc.