Campaign Training Transcript

Hello and welcome to campaign training presented by Greenwich

Student’s Union. Today we’re going to talk a little bit about what
campaigning is, how you can start campaigning, and how you can run a
successful campaign.

So, what is campaigning? According to NCVO in 2011, campaigning is the

mobilising of forces by organisations and individuals to influence others in
order to effect an identified and desired social, economic, environmental
or political change. So, what does that mean?

Essentially, you can campaign about whatever it is you’re passionate

about. It’s all about seeing something you want to improve and going out
of your way to make it happen. So things that you can ask yourself are
what are you passionate about, and what changes would you like to see?
It’s all about wanting to see positive change in a cause that you care
about, whether that’s in wider society or just at university level.

So what does campaigning actually look like? Campaigning can involve

lobbying for change, advocacy and mobilising other to take action. It can
involve creating content for social media, handing out or sharing
information about causes, running events to raise awareness and/or
funds, peaceful protests, collecting signatures on petitions, there are so
many possibilities when it comes to campaigning.

A really important part of campaigning is planning. When you’re setting up

your campaign, there are several things you need to think about to ensure
that your campaign runs the way you want it to. So first of all, what is your
call to action? What is it that you want to see change, what is it that you
think you can get other people to care about to get involved as well. What
resources do you need and do you need funding? Resources could be
things like using canva to create leaflets, which is free, it could involve
things like paper to create your own, it could involve signs if you want to
run a peaceful process or it could involve funding, in which case you may
need to fundraise. Do you have a campaign team to help? Your campaign
team could be your friends and your peers, it could be family, just anyone
really who is passionate as well who would like to get involved and help
you. A campaign team can be so beneficial, as every single person who
gets involved in your campaign will help to make your campaign that little
bit stronger. Who can you ask for support? We will come to this shortly,
but there are always a lot of people who are more than willing to help and
support you with your campaign. And what deadlines have you set
yourself to make sure your campaign runs the way you want it too? Now
as a student the chances are you’re very busy. You’ll have lectures and
seminars, you’ll have coursework to do, you might have exams, and you
may well work part time as well, so setting yourself realistic deadlines to
make sure you complete your campaign work on time will help to ensure
that everything runs the way you want it too and it doesn’t just fall by the
wayside.

Online campaigning is a great way to get started, especially if you’re short

on time. You can use things like tiktok and Instagram, or eve things like
threads or Twitter/X. You can create reels, share photos and articles, and
you can even write your own articles. Websites such as wordpress and
blogspot do offer the option to create a website for free, so if there’s a
cause that you would like to write about and share, why not utilise that
resource? You can even share events via your email or teams, which is
really handy for getting to peers who maybe you’re not quite as close too,
who maybe you don’t have their contact details or social media
information for, why not reach out to them that way? You can also create
surveys, petitions and leaflets.

However, the power of in person campaigning shouldn’t be ignored. Some

really important things to remember if you are campaigning in person are
knowing your facts and your target audience. It’s not a good look if
someone asks you some questions about your campaign, and you don’t
know your facts and figures off the top of your head. It doesn’t mean you
have to memorise everything, but if you’re campaigning in person it’s
always worth having a little cheat sheet on you with all the key
information that you need. After all, it’s completely natural in a situation
that maybe you’re not not used to that your mind might just go blank.
This helps to alleviate that. You can ask your friends and peers to support
your campaign and go with you if you’re nervous, there’s no harm in that,
but don’t be afraid to talk to people. Most people are friendly and will be
happy to listen to you, as long as you’re not too pushy, and as long as
you’re respecting them and their time. You can use canva, for free, to
create posters and leaflets and information that you can share, that’s
really important, that’s a really handy resource that you can use, you can
also use QR codes to direct people to further information. You should
always be approachable and friendly of course, but respect a no. A lot of
the people you’re gonna be talking to will be students, and we all know
what it’s like to be in a rush to get to a lecture and we’re running a little
bit late, we’ve all been there. So, if someone says no, they don’t have
time, you can simply hand them a leaflet or literally just say no worries
and let them go on their way. A way to get people involved isn’t by
pushing them, and it isn’t by not respecting their time, it’s not going to
make them want to support you, it’s probably just going to annoy them. If
you have permission, you can maybe talk about your issue in a lecture or
a seminar, but please make sure you have permission first! You’d be
surprised at how many lecturers would be willing to give you just a few
minutes at the beginning or the end of a lecture to share something about
your campaign to get other students involved, but again always make
sure you have permission first. And, of course, you can go to student
assembly.

So, student assembly meets four times per year. You can submit a topic or
a motion to be discussed and voted on, you can mandate GSU to pursue
campaigns and change by laws, and you can address the issues students
are facing an work with others to come up with solutions. This is a really
easy way for you to meet other people who are also engaged, who may
want to help you with your campaign, and it’s also a way to help get GSU
involved in your campaign, so please do use this.

So, who can help with your campaign? Well, first of all your GSU
coordinator or GSU staff in general. Generally we will be more than happy
to help you if you want to get involved in campaigning. Sabbatical officers,
your friends and peers, other programme reps and executive reps, and
liberation chairs.

So, your coordinator. Each school has their own coordinator. Your
coordinator is there to support you in your role as a rep, but they can also
advise you on your campaigning efforts. You can always ask for advice by
emailing your coordinator or the rep inbox and arranging a meeting with
them via teams or in person. I can guarantee your coordinator will be
thrilled to hear that you want to campaign, and they’ll be more than
happy to help you.

Your sabbatical officers, they are there and elected to work for you. They
are there to represent the best interests of students and campaigning is a
key part of their role. You can always get in touch with officers for support
and guidance, and the chances are that whatever you’re campaigning on,
they may well already be aware of, and they’ll be more than happy to
help. Your officers are Ameen, who is the president, Amrutha, Aminal and
Sodiq. Please do get in touch with them if you need them, again they are
elected and paid to work for you.

Liberation chairs, they’re elected to represent the needs of specific

groups. At Greenwich, we have six chairs who you could work with, or you
could consider running to be a chair yourself. The six chairs we have are
the LGBTQ+ chair, the students of colour chair, the women’s chair, the
commuter student’s chair, the mature students chair and the disabled
students chair. The benefit of becoming a liberation chair is that a lot of
the role is about running your own campaigns, so you can run your
campaign alongside your liberation work, however if you don’t want to be
a liberation chair or you’re unsuccessful in becoming a liberation chair,
you can always reach out to whoever the liberation chair is, if your issue is
relevant to their work, and they will be more than happy to work with you
to bring more awareness and to work with you on your campaign.

So working with each other, student assembly isn’t the only way you can
work with each other. Issues often affect multiple courses and schools.
You can also attend rep socials and events to network and build
connections. Town halls are new this year, but they can be a great way to
speak to each other about common issues and brainstorm solutions, as
well as meeting new people who may wish to get involved with your
campaign. Now, town halls like I say are new this year, but they are there
so students can bring literally any and all issues to town hall to discuss.
There are no formal agandas, it’s just a way for you to come and share
whatever it is that you want to share and whatever it is that you want to
be improved, so that can be an incredibly helpful resource and a really
great way to get people involved in your campaign and maybe even make
new friends, which is always beneficial.

Thank you so much for watching, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you
need to, you can always reach out to the rep inbox. Good luck with your
campaign, and I hope you enjoyed this training. Thank you and goodbye!