Sue Tibballs is looking forward to speaking to Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall in Glasgow this month about campaigning for justice
Later this month, I’ll be chairing a panel at The Gathering exploring the art and science of charity campaigning. We have some great speakers lined up: Margaret Aspinall from the Hillsborough Family Support Group and Andrew Pendleton, head of campaigning at Friends of the Earth England.
My focus for the session will be to extract lessons and tips that can help charities campaign well. And boy, do we need effective charity campaigning right now. From Brexit and Trump, to austerity and sector funding cuts, a raft of recent events are giving charities cause to rethink and gear up their approach to campaigning. In a UK poll SMK carried out last summer, 86% of charities and voluntary organisations said they thought there would be a need for more campaigning in the next 12 months.
So what are our speakers likely to tell us about that can help charity campaigns have optimal impact?
It took Margaret and the other families who lost loved ones at Hillsborough twenty-seven years to see justice prevail. And in that time, they had to overcome so many hurdles and set-backs, it is a wonder that they didn’t give up
Sue Tibballs
I’m expecting Margaret to bring us back to some of the campaign basics – and give us all a huge shot of inspiration and new resolve.
It took Margaret and the other families who lost loved ones at Hillsborough twenty-seven years to see justice prevail. And in that time, they had to overcome so many hurdles and set-backs, it is a wonder that they didn’t give up.
Andrew, meanwhile, is in charge of campaigns at one of the foremost campaigning charities in the country. Friends of the Earth is right at the cutting edge of new approaches to charitable campaigns, as well as being one of the most ardent advocates for the right to campaign. Andrew will be sharing his experiences, and pulling out the lessons and tips he would recommend. I’ll also be sharing some of our experiences at Sheila McKechnie from our work training and supporting campaigners from local service providers to global NGOs.
We will touch on new thinking from Canada on the benefits of networked campaigns; consider the pros and cons of online activism and mobilisation; talk about how to use service-users to best effect; and talk about how to secure support from senior management and trustees.
So whether, your organisation is trying to advocate for beneficiaries, secure a policy or legal win, shift attitudes on an particular issue or drive behaviourial change, this session will, without doubt, have plenty to offer. You can ask your own questions of the panel too in the Q&A.
So please do join us on Wednesday 22 Febraury at 4pm at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow for what promises to be a highly interesting, stimulating and energising panel.
Sue Tibballs is the chief executive of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, which works to support and enable people to campaign effectively in society. Book to attend here.
