Personally...

I have been asked me to write a personal blog about my experiences being a Greenpeace volunteer so here goes....

I have been an active volunteer for a good few years now and absolutely love it. This is something I am very passionate about and will continue to be. I have learned a lot about the campaigns and how the Greenpeace team works. I have always had a keen interest in the environment from a very young age so having an opportunity to help at all is a dream come true for me. If you don't know much about what Greenpeace is doing, there is a video below showing some of the activists in action.

I have never been made so welcome than I have in the Southampton Greenpeace group. The group leader, Dave, made me feel comfortable and must have liked the work I put in as he promoted me to the Key Activists Group. He trusted me and gave me responsibilities like organizing campaigns and helping to lead events when he wasn't available. I have been to the head office in London representing Southampton, have been involved in various campaigns, organized a film night and been involved in various other activities.

Before having my son on Halloween 2012, I was able to go campaigning and do various other things a number of times a week. Now my little one takes up most of my attention. In fact it’s quite difficult to type with him chewing on my elbow! Still, I'm dedicated to Greenpeace and will be campaigning whenever I can. It has been suggested that I bring him with me, which I will be trying very soon. He has come to a lot of events in utero. I'm sure he'll enjoy it!

Some of the campaigns I have been involved in are the VW Dark Side campaign, Be a Fisherman's Friend and the current Save the Arctic Campaign. Both VW Dark Side and Be a Fisherman’s friend campaigns were a success with Volkswagen agreeing to make greener cleaner cars. The campaign took nearly 2 years of persistent petitioning where some of us made it to the local newspaper (The Daily Echo). Using less oil means less pollution, less impact on the climate and less pressure on vulnerable places like the Arctic. Be a Fisherman’s friend was such a success, MEP’s in the EU Fisheries Committee have voted to approve sweeping reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. This has influenced the most powerful parts of the fishing industry with the highest environmental impact in favour of small scale fishermen who fish using sustainable methods. The reform could help reverse the damage to fish stocks that decades of overfishing have caused and end wasteful discards - the practice of throwing edible fish back overboard dead. The Save the Arctic Campaign is ongoing but Shell have currently cancelled their plans to drill in the Arctic in 2013.

The work in the arctic isn't over by a long shot. I am currently trying to get sponsors for me shaving my head to get a new arctic survival pod. This will take place at The Art House Southampton on the evening of April 20th (more here about this event). Activists need safe and secure equipment to survive in Arctic conditions but our equipment has been captured. A survival pod allows activists to stay warm, safe, occupy oilrigs for longer and maintain contact with the outside world. If you would like to donate there is a link below where you can donate.