Sometimes when I log on to the Nottingham Greenpeace group web page I look at the number of people who ‘follow’ us and what we do and I wonder what they are thinking. They obviously signed up because they support the work Greenpeace does but when you look at the numbers, there are around 160 people signed up to the on-line group but only about 10% of that number actually does stuff or comes to meetings. Do you out there in internet-land feel you want to do something but are not sure what you can do? It does take a lot of courage to walk into a room and look around for likely candidates who you think might be the Greenpeace group. Maybe you think we are all dreadlocked hippies and you would feel out of place. Well we do have a couple of people with dreadlocks but the majority of us you would walk past in the street and never know our secret lives as environmental activists. We have a wide range of ages, backgrounds and jobs. One of us is a midwife, another one works in a call centre, and someone else is a councillor (the ‘tell me about your problems’ kind not the political kind). We have students and unemployed people as well – they are often the ones with more time to offer and that is the point. Saving the planet does take time and effort but if everyone did a bit then it would really add up. As Vincent van Gogh said ‘Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.’ However not everyone wants to be out there in the street or on an action. But there is stuff that still needs doing. Yesterday I was down in Greenpeace’s head office at a meeting of political lobbying trainers. This is a new venture by Greenpeace. We already train people up for taking part in non violent actions and we offer training for people to work on the streets talking to the public about our campaigns but that is all ‘front of house’ stuff to use a theatrical analogy. Greenpeace is known for getting things done and by generally doing things. We are an action led organisation but more and more we need to talk to Governments and decision makers. It’s called speaking truth to power. At this meeting yesterday we were discussing changes to the format of the programme to make it more effective. This led us to the very important question – who is this training programme aimed at? Yes, some people come to it through the active supporter network but writing a letter to an MP on an issue that concerns you or even going to visit your MP in his or her surgery is something that can be done by an individual and it is becoming an increasingly important part of Greenpeace’s work. Sometimes to make the changes we want to see, we need to change the minds of the people who can make the changes. So if you have come to the end of this rambling and think ‘yes, I might be able to write a letter a few times a year’ then think about becoming a political lobbyist.
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