P&P Campaigner Profile: Richard Roaf
Every month People & Planet profiles an individual campaigner, in order for us to celebrate and highlight what P&Pers are doing. If you think one of your friends should be displayed on this page then then get in touch with us.
Our fearless Regional Rep Richard Roaf takes on Topshop. Without clothes.
Richard Roaf
Which region are you Regional Rep for? I am one half of the Regional Rep team for London along with Ayah.
What inspired you to start campaigning? The destruction of the planet and the UK’s rubbish response to it.
Why did you decide to apply to be a Regional Rep? Because I thought that P&P groups in London have a fantastic opportunity to work together to do things much greater than any individual group could do alone. Being close to Westminster and the national media means there is huge potential to put pressure on the government directly. Also I had met lots of people from other London groups and working with them sounded fun.
What has your role involved so far? I have travelled to group meetings, organised stunts, held workshops, sent emails, etc.
What have you most enjoyed about being a Regional Rep? A few of the stunts I have helped organise have been great fun. Descending on Westminster dressed as Santa and surrounded by elves and polars bears was really surreal. Also meeting people in different universities who are campaigning on exactly the same thing is great. It helps dispel this idea that no-one cares about these things.
What have you least enjoyed? Balancing it with my degree has been pretty tough sometimes but there is nothing particularly bad.
Who should think about applying to be a Regional Rep? Anyone who is enthusiastic about People & Planet. I don’t think there is any point in me listing required skills because different people could bring really different things to the role.
What are you planning on doing next? Well I’ve got my finals in about a month so revision but then after that I’ll be applying for some environmental based jobs that will let me use some of the skills I have learnt as a rep.
With many commentators suggesting that apathy is rife amongst young people, what can be done to engage young people in the campaign for social justice? I think its unfair to say that young people are particularly apathetic as I think its a problem more generally with our society and I have met so many young people who really care about these issues. But it seems like a lot of people don’t want to face up to the problems our society is creating because their lifestyle is partly responsible for these problems and they don’t want to feel guilty. So explaining these issues in a way that moves away from focusing on all the bad things we are responsible for, to a focus on all the amazing things we could do if we wanted to, will engage loads more people.
There are many more profiles of P&P campaigners present and campaigners past.