It was Easter Saturday, Arctic winds and snow flurries swept through the streets of Bromley, but that did not deter one group of eager Greenpeace supporters who turned up from all corners of South East and Greater London to promote and garner support for the new I Love the Arctic campaign.
We were well equipped, with not one but two polar bears! We had a stall covered with Greenpeace paraphernalia and crafty goodness, and we had our team on the street circulating with the 'I Love the Arctic' speech bubbles and polar bear in tow to gather photographic proof of the public's support for, and desire to save the Arctic; one of the Earth's most precious and unique environments.
The day was an interesting one for me, because it was my first attempt at coordinating an event for Southwark group. Obviously this was made easier by the fact that as a cross-group event, all responsibility did not lie solely at my door if nobody showed up...(although thankfully many did!) However, it was a really interesting first step for me into the world of events organisation. I realised that there are numerous small (but crucial!) details, which must be considered, plus there is the promotion of the event, making sure people will turn up and then knowing what the plan is when they do! I found that I really enjoyed taking on that extra bit of responsibility, and when the day was a success it was nice to think that I had contributed to that. Helping to coordinate the event was a great confidence boost for me and I look forward to taking on similar responsibilities in the future.
We had a really fantastic group of people who turned up on the day and in spite of the cold and some mild hypothermia we did a good job and made a very positive impression on the public. It was enjoyable to be working with the other groups - it is always nice to get to know some new faces and I hope that this cross-group campaigning is something we will do a lot more of in the year to come. The only issue that we really came up against on the day is the fact that a lot of people are quite camera shy but with some gentle cajoling (the polar bear helped a lot!) we still got some great images, as well as new sign ups and hopefully new Arctic defenders.
The next major event for us is the International I Love the Arctic day on the 20th April. I for one have heard some rumblings of what is in the pipeline and it is fair to say that it will be a very exciting day-so watch this space and hope to see you all there!
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