I recently came across a great course on rhetoric. Over the summer I had been doing some reading around Greek philosophy. Repeatedly I came up against how importantly they viewed the subject of rhetoric. It made me conscious that in all of my education, I had never...
I recently came across great a leadership course. It's run by the Open University's Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership. I must confess that I started out on this course with a large dose of scepticism. I have done leadership courses before and very often they...
Recently I got back in touch with a colleague of mine now working out of Berlin. While we were catching up with each other, he suddenly said to me, 'you know what? I think we are both network entrepreneurs!' I hadn't come across this concept before; of course I'd...
I was running a campaigning webinar recently with colleagues across Bulgaria, and I was asked - how do we get the credit? The point was expressed that you can do loads of campaigning work, develop evidence and policy, build support and get policy or practice change....
I've recently started doing some work exploring how adding a campaigning twist to leadership can enhance a leader. What do I mean by a campaigning twist? Well, for a long time I have been intrigued at the inter-relationship between campaigning and leadership. And I...
I have just put a new webinar on my site on 1832 and all that. Well, to be a bit clearer, it's about the development of Parliamentary Democracy in the UK. This short webinar offers a simple introduction to this important topic not just for campaigners. It was...
I've just added a couple of new webinars to my site. At the beginning of the year, I published a new pamphlet which sought, in a very simple way, to explain how a theory of change could be used to drive a campaign forward. And recently a colleague of mine recommended...
Over the last two months I have seen a dramatic surge in demand for my online campaigning courses. I like to think it is all those people at home around the world at the moment, using this time to sharpen up their campaigning skills. As we emerge out of the global...
Last month I saw my book sales reach 400! I was amazed, and even more so by that fact that it continues to sell around the world. When I wrote Campaigning for Change: an Essential Guide for Campaigning around the World, I realised that it would appeal to a small,...
This week I faced the challenge of running a meeting on Zoom, not for 7 or so people as I've done in the past, but for 33 people! I've written in the past about how I much I appreciate running a meeting on Zoom for campaign training. A few years ago working with a...
'Your stuff is so simple'. This was the stark feedback from a colleague recently, who had just read my book: Campaigning for Change - an Essential Guide for Campaigning around the World. I am not sure that this statement was made as a compliment, but I took it as...
I was recently asked by the Non Profit Builder website to write a post reflecting on one of my recent assignments - here is my post how to make a theory of change work
I am really excited to have been offered the role of project director of Detention Forum. The Forum is a network of over 40 groups challenging the use of immigration detention in the UK. I have had occasional involvement with Detention Forum since 2012, when I helped...
Working as I do on a variety of contracts around the world, it doesn't always start well! This was certainly the case for me in a recent assignment in Serbia. I was running a workshop for Roma community group leaders to introduce a simple approach to advocacy....
I am now entering my fourth year of working independently to help charities and NGOs to campaign for change around the world. One thing though that has challenged me during this time is what to call myself. The conventional description for the way that I am working is...
Last month I had the opportunity of running advocacy workshops for the Open Society Foundations in Georgia and Ukraine. My aim was to support parents who wanted to advocate for changes to support children better with conditions like autism. The campaigning passion of...
Since 2007, I have had the good fortune to be asked to run a session on the Certificate in Campaigning. This superb course, now on its 20th intake, is run by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). It aims to offer campaign training for people working...
There's a lot of talk at the moment in the UK charity sector about the importance of valuing the challenge from lived experience in both service delivery and campaigning. While people may be talking about it, there is one new report which is both compelling and...
I have thought a lot recently about what drives and motivates campaigns. When I look back on my campaigning, I know that it was when I had time with people who had lived experience of the campaigning issue that I really felt a sense of drive and purpose for the...
Having written in my last post about how you can overcome the language barrier, I faced a new challenge the other day on a webinar. I was due to run a webinar introducing a simple approach to advocacy for NGOs across Ukraine. There hadn’t had too much contact with the...
I've written before about how campaigning and challenging injustice shows our common humanity. Across the world I have met people wanting to campaign for change. I am interested in how to break through the language barrier to support them. My first experience of...
Last month I attended a meeting hosted by Women for Refugee Women and NACCOM to explore the possibility of a new campaign to end destitution. I wasn't too sure how I felt as I travelled to the meeting. While I was optimistic and hopeful, I was also slightly wary...
My last two blog posts have been about destitution, and whilst being a bleak issue, they have made the case for a new national campaign to end destitution. But don’t please get the idea that I think nothing is happening to tackle this issue. There is the great...
Since writing my last blog post, a number of people have asked me: what is destitution? It is a strange almost Victorian term, but I take it to mean a human being who has no income, no home, nothing. In terms of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, they are people who cannot...