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)

b. Write a Campaign Plan

A solid campaign plan helps keep everyone focused. Ask yourselves the following questions and document the answers:

• What’s your central goal/aim/ask? One main ask/demand is powerful, e.g. more accessible infrastructure overall. • What do you need to do to achieve your goal? Grow local support? Win over politicians? Establish your profile? (All of the above and more, probably). Go for SMART objectives here.

15 • What’s behind your goal(s)? Think of this as your ‘manifesto’, outlining what you want and the justification for it. • What are your values? These help set your campaign’s tone. Do you want everyone to engage in gentle consensus-building, or would you rather they were provocative? • Who has the power to do what you want them to do? Approach this like a mapping exercise (include political representatives and paid council officers). • How are you going to influence your decision-makers, now that you’ve identified them? For this, write an ‘Advocacy Plan’ (see section 8 below). • How are you going to communicate your messages? This could probably do with a distinct ‘Communications Plan’, including a timetable of opportunities / hooks. (See Sections 4 and 5 on embracing the media).

c. Show and tell

• Stock up on photos, graphics and diagrams for local/social media, leaflets, posters, manifesto etc. Pictures of a horrible junction or crossing point needing urgent treatment will probably come to mind, but collect positive, aspirational images too, e.g. of parents and children enjoying a cycle ride together. It’ll show why you’re so keen on making cycling more accessible for everyone, and brighten your messaging as well. Encourage supporters to take photos and post to social media tagging the campaign. • Use short mobile phone videos, telling personal stories of your local supporters.

15 There’s much advice on SMART objectives online.

d. Up your support

Events

• Organise an inaugural meeting of key local people. • Stage a high profile launch to attract the media and elected/prospective members. • Introduce your campaign to as wide an audience as possible via a webinar. Advertise on social media and any other local channels you can think of. • Organise hustings (Section 2), stunts (Section 3), photocalls, mass rides, bike rides for prospective councillors/other political representatives (Section 1), Twitter storms etc.

Contacts & connections

• Brainstorm local organisations who may be sympathetic, then contact them. • Go to meetings of other local community groups/campaigns to announce your initiative. • Create an online tool inviting people to register their support for your campaign, and always remember to point everyone to it (including people you meet at in-person or online events). So that you don’t miss out on passive and, crucially, active support, ask them to tell you: 1) ‘Yes, I really like the sound of your campaign, or 2) Yes, I want this to happen and will help. (If you’re going to process personal data, make sure you comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).16 • Establish contact with council staff responsible for roads, active travel, communities etc. If it’s not clear who they are, call the council.

Communications

• Implement your Comms Plan (see above) • Spread your message on social media (see Section 5). • Publish a series of blogs / reports (e.g. revealing the results of a local survey) • Talk to the local papers about news stories and features (see Section 4)

16

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/711 097/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr-1-0.pdf