7.
Set up and plan a new campaign
Want help with your bike rides for candidates, husting, stunts and media appearances? Can’t find a local cycle campaign group? Discovered, to your horror, that there used to be one, but it’s fizzled? Chances are, though, that you’ve already met people who share your goals and thinking. As mentioned in the Foreword, support for active travel schemes and investment is widespread – far greater, in fact, than many local and national politicians assume. But they need to hear this from their electorate – and not just up to May 5, but inbetween times too, from polling-day to polling-day way into the future. So now’s the time to initiate, refresh or revive a local campaign to orchestrate supporters and structure advocacy activities. There’s no need to apply the ideas below rigidly, of course – campaigns are not all the same, so adapt the advice below to suit your objectives.
a. Basic checklist • Choose a campaign name – concise, understandable and relevant (a working title is fine while you’re in setting-up mode). • Convene a core group of likeminded people, with a view to establishing a formal steering group in due course, assigning specific roles and responsibilities to its members. • Be inclusive – engage with and learn from existing and would-be cyclists of all ages and abilities. • Set up an independent website, or negotiate with a host or partner organisation for a webpage. Sometimes a Facebook page can do this job. • Arrange a separate email account (unless it’s a campaign from an existing group • Register social media accounts (if you don’t already have them), i.e.: • Facebook – for posts to followers. • Twitter – for regular short updates and raising profile with decision-makers and a wider audience. • Instagram – for posting photos (More on social media in Section 6)
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