Find below my speech delivered today in Swansea
Good Morning it’s a delight for me to be here today, and to be able to share my knowledge and experience with you and I hope to learn things from you.
I think it is very appropriate that the conference is being held here in the Liberty Stadium as I hope what I will say will liberate you to feel that you can bring about change no matter who you are or if you have a disability
I thought that everyone in Wales loves Rugby so this speech was going to be about how Try you best and Converting your campaigning chances but everyone I have spoken to more of a football fan so that plan was a bit of an own goal!
David Lloyd George said you can’t cross a chasm in 2 small leaps and I hope that what I will say today will help you take the first leap
Who am I and what do I know about campaigning ?I am leading the barred campaign in Scotland. The barred campaign is seeking to improve the information available to disabled pub goers in Scotland.
Like all good ideas the campaign started in the pub although we did not go there to start the campaign. It was a typical Friday night and like many people I had gone to the pub to meet friends and unwind over a few drinks.
The evening started off well I got into the pub through the level access entrance and watched my favorite darts player Raymond Van Barneveld win a match on TV and I was settled in for the evening with a pint in hand What could go wrong?
I then needed the toilet and so I asked the bar staff where the disabled toilet was and was told sorry we don’t have one. I thought what am I supposed to do now as I thought they did just by the fact that I could get in to the pub.
I had to leave my friends and go elsewhere and find a toilet then rejoin them.
This has happened to me before but I hope my campaign will stop it happening in the future. I am fed up of it happening to me, James Bond likes his Martinis shaken but not stirred. The experience that night shook and stirred the campaigning beast within me and I decided to campaign for change.
I contacted my Member of the Scottish Parliament to ask them to find out why the bar didn’t have a disabled toilet – I thought it would be more effective than coming from me a punter
Then a local councilor asked Edinburgh City Council To find out the number of pubs in the city with disabled toilets and the ease of access to the toilets. The results were to be published so that disabled people would know where the pubs were and not have to go through a similar experience. The council agreed to this request.
Not content with stopping there I decided to chance my arm and see if I could go nation wide with my campaign and I am now working for Capability Scotland to see if my campaign can have a national impact after they agreed to support my campaign and my quest for equality. I am now working full time for them as their Parliamentary and Policy Officer which allows me to work on a wide range of issues from welfare reform to access to justice
How can you Campaign for change?
Just like the Jackson 5 song campaigning can be as easy as ABC- make sure you pay attention, as I will be testing you later!
The most important part of any campaign is the planning the more work you do here the less work later.
Find out if there have been any similar campaigns not to copy them but to learn from them.
Firstly make sure you know what you and your team are campaigning for. If everyone in the team is pulling in the same direction it makes life so much easier.
Keep your campaign simple. Keep it down to 3 or 4 points this makes it easier for you to remember what your are campaigning for and also if you do any press releases or interview it keeps it short it snappy.
Once you have decided these you have to decide where you want the campaign to go do you want to campaign for change in your school, street or like me your country
Now implement your campaign. Many people think the new way to campaign is to copy president Obama but I would disagree. Although he did use the Internet to great effect the bulk of his campaigning was done the old fashioned way through door knocking and meetings,
How you market your campaign depends on the situation. For example don’t use the Internet if your target audience don’t use the Internet. That may sound simple but you would be amazed at how many people think that just because they have run one successful campaign in a certain way that way will always work.
Talk to people about your campaign and do a piece in your school paper or start a petition. If you get lots of interest then who ever you are trying to get to implement your campaign will have to take notice.
Arguably the greatest thing the Scottish parliament has to campaign for change is the Petitions committee. Which allows ordinary people to take their concerns to the people that represent them I know that the national assembly for Wales has one too and I look forward to hearing what Mike German has to say later on. All I would say is that its there to help you so why not give it a go!
So there are some tips about how to run a successful campaign. Here are some words of wisdom from a seasoned campaigner.
You may not achieve what you set out to achieve but don’t lose heart. Your campaign may have raised an issue, which someone else will take forward.
Campaigning is hard work But as John F Kennedy said we don’t do things because they are easy but because they hard, I am standing fir the UK parliament for the labour party in Orkney and Shetland which is very hard because its one of the safest Liberal Democrats seats in the country but I believe I can do it
If you’re campaigning for change believe in it. Franklyn D Roosevelt said if you believe in something you are half way there. The passion, which comes from you, does a lot for your campaign people may not remember all you say but they will remember how you said it.
Belief in myself is something I have a huge amount of. In September 2008 I had found my first job. It was in Canary wharf at Lehman Brothers. I never started that job.
But I had the belief I could find a job and I have ended up speaking to you today and working in a job I love.
Most of all have fun! You could meet all sorts of people and learn new things
So how do you campaign for change? You plan you organise , you impliment and you believe!
At the start of my speech I quoted David Lloyd George may seem like you are in a chasm David Lloyd George said you cant cross a cassum in two small leaps. With what I have shared with you today are you ready to take the jump?
