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Let's be friendsFor your group to be strong and successful you need to make your presence felt on campus and be as accessible and welcoming as possible. You’ll find lots of ideas and resources for doing this on the following pages.
Strong P&P groups are:
1. Active and cater for all kinds of people
Be inclusive and open to newcomers, be accesible to a diverse range of people. Make sure you run a range of activities to keep as many people as possible involved and motivated. This will help you recruit more members at your Freshers Fair, first meeting and throughout the year.
2. Inclusive and fun
Socialising and holding creative and fun actions will keep everyone motivated and make your group more effective.
3. Empowering and motivated
Make sure you remind yourselves why you’re campaigning! Encourage each other and celebrate your successes on campus and by putting up news stories on peopleandplanet.org. Come to P&P events to meet hundreds of other P&Pers and be inspired.
4. Creative
The more innovative and creative your campaign actions and group are, the more effective you will be at engaging students, the media and your campaign target. Have fun and get messy, unleash your creativity!
5. Organised and not stressful
With all the commitments of being a student, don’t take on too much! Delegate responsibilities for your group and campaigns; this will help to get more people involved as well.
6. In regular contact with each other
Group communication through emails and face-to-face meetings is crucial for successful campaigning. Remember to stay in contact with the support office as well.
7. Strategic
Planning is the foundation for making all those stunning actions, events and meetings happen. Don’t let planning and meetings become a substitute for campaigning though - use them to make your campaigns better.
8. Democratic
Social change means building a fairer, more just and participative future for us all, so we should use models of organisation that reflect these values. Some groups choose the processes and tools of participatory decision making to make sure the entire group has ownership of decisions.
9. Informed about the issues
There are loads of ways that P&P can support you to become more informed: through campaign briefings; workshops; speaker contacts and national events. Don’t forget about all the resources and knowledge within your group as well.
10. Sustainable
Make sure you have people to take over after you have left: * Delegate the roles within your group or campaign. Keep an eye out for people willing to take on responsibility, and get them to take it on ASAP. * Have a skillshare session and keep a handover file to pass on your skills and knowledge to others. * Work openly - don’t just show people the finished leaflet or press release, consult them as you develop it, so that they can learn how you work and so that you can benefit from their advice.
11. Part of the network
The P&P network is an incredible mix of students from across the UK, working together for change, sharing experiences, skills and advice, and having a good time while they do it! You can get involved by coming to events, talking to the rest of the network and participating in our democratic processes - deciding our campaigns and discussing how P&P runs. Its your network - make sure you get involved in important decisions.
