General Election: Resources and links

Election 2019

 

JRRT and the UK Democracy Fund have collated several resources to help your campaigns and to provide advice and support:

 

Legal

 

Charity Law Rationale for the Promotion of Voter Engagement and Participation in Elections

This paper, commissioned by JRRT from Stone King LLP, explains how charities can target low voting demographics such as young people, renters or people from minoritised ethnicities for voter engagement and participation in the forthcoming election.  It has specific sections to help racial justice and environmental charities to understand the wide range of rationales available to many charities to advance their purposes through voter participation and will help Trustees to document this.  Download here.

 

Campaigning, Political Activity and Election Guide for Charities

A comprehensive guide from Stone King LLP, funded  by the Legal Education Foundation, for charities that wish to undertake campaigns. Download here.

 

UK Democracy Fund resources for Grantees

 

UK Democracy Fund: Voter registration and getting out the vote guide

The UK Democracy Fund was set up in 2019, and since then has invested considerably in voter participation campaigns in the UK. We have set an ambitious target of registering a million people from low voting groups before the 18 June deadline.  Through our research, and evaluation of learning from work we have funded we’ve developed a good understanding of what makes voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns successful. Find out more about how to run a successful campaign in this guide.

 

UK Democracy Fund: How to count

How We Count is a guide to best practice in how campaigners, projects and groups can embed data collection in their voter registration work to track how many new voters have been added to the electoral roll due to their interventions.

 

Collaboration and Networking

 

The Democracy Network

JRRT funds the Democracy Network, a network of people and organisations working on issues of power, democracy and voice in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are working to build a stronger democracy by connecting people and supporting collaboration, increasing knowledge, skills and resources, and coordinating effective influencing strategies and action. Find out more about their work and how to join the Network on their website.

 

Democracy Classroom

Funded by the UK Democracy Fund, Democracy Classroom from The Politics Project supports young people to engage in elections. It provides a shared hub of resources, training opportunities and events, created by a partnership of non-partisan organisations working on democracy, education and youth.

SMK Campaigner Awards shortlists announced!

Each year, the Shelia McKechnie Foundation celebrates the best campaigns and campaigners with their SMK National Campaigner Awards. JRRT is proud to sponsor the David & Goliath category. It celebrates individuals or small campaign groups that take on much bigger organisations and challenge vested power.

 

And the shortlisted campaigns have just been revealed:

 

 

Sustainable Farming Campaign from Sustain

The Sustainable Farming Campaign is a leading voice in pushing for a sustainable farming future in the UK. They help amplify farmers’ voices in order to aid a farmer-led transition to nature friendly farming.

Read their full story here

 

The Justice For Omisha Campaign

The #JusticeForOmisha campaign is one family and their community taking on the Home Office’s hostile environment immigration system and fighting for an NHS that is free to provide universal healthcare for all.

 

The campaign has grown thanks to the efforts of a community of dedicated, fearless and caring campaigners, supported by Migrants Organise and Medact.

Read more about their campaign 

 

Fawcett Society versus The Sun

 Following The Sun’s publication of Jeremy Clarkson’s toxic and misogynistic column about the Duchess of Sussex, the Fawcett Society devised a campaign to call-out and make news media responsible for the misogyny that so often appears in our newspapers. To do this, they needed the press regulator, IPSO, to take action against The Sun. It was daunting for a small charity to go up against one of UK’s best read, commercial news brands, but it was a battle they needed to take on.

Read more about the Fawcett Society’s fight here

 

And the winners are…

Well, you don’t have long before you can find out! This year’s Awards ceremony will be live streamed from Central Saint Martins in London on Wednesday 15 May from 6:15pm to 8pm. Information about how to watch along will be announced on SMK’s website soon.