Research and Lobbying

Research

Before embarking on any kind of campaign on behalf of a venue or company that is at risk for any reason you should undertake research into the current and historical situation. Here are some research sources you may like to use:

Look for information in the local history library, local archives and the planning records of the local authority. Many buildings were illustrated in architectural magazines after 1914, and these may include additional information. The best resource for these is the RIBA Library, 66 Portland Place, London W1 (020 7580 5533, current charge of £10 per day for the use of the library), although larger public libraries and School of Architecture libraries may also be able to help.

Useful websites for this area of research include:

Other useful research sites:

Building Preservation Trusts are charities established to save buildings of architectural or historic importance whose survival is threatened. One of these may already be aware of the plight of your venue or they may be interested in helping you campaign. The United Kingdom Association of Building Preservation Trusts (APT) is a national charity which represents building preservation trusts. It offers members practical advice and support on running a building preservation trust and undertaking building restoration projects. For further information contact:


The UK Association of Building Preservation Trusts
Clareville House,
26-27 Oxenden Street,
London
SW1Y 4EL
Tel: 020 7930 1629
Web: www.heritage.co.uk/apt

The Listed Buildings Information Service on 020 7208 8221 will fax you a copy of the listing for one particular building after a three day delay. Computerised searching is at present impossible, except for internal staff at English Heritage in Swindon . You can see lists covering your local area and obtain copies of individual entries at your local council planning department, County Council offices and most local reference libraries. The full English national list is kept by English Heritage at the National Monuments Record, Kemble Drive , Swindon SN2 2GZ . Please note that when asking for this it is often called The Greenbacks, because the scraps of paper are kept in green-backed folders in a room in Swindon.

Local newspaper archives (often held by city library as well as the paper itself) - they may have records of previous campaigns to preserve other local building and companies and you may be able to take something from these experiences.

Local Equity Office and your local Equity Branch - listed in the main contacts section of this site.

Other potential sources of support - you could find their details on the internet, local telephone directories or your library may have information:

  • City and Town Archives
  • Community Association
  • Historic Building Society
  • Land Registry
  • Local Civic Society
  • Local Historical Society
  • Local Museums
  • Theatre Friends Schemes
  • Other arts or cultural organisations in the area
  • Audiences
  • Fan Clubs
  • Local amateur dramatic and opera companies
Lobbying

The word comes from the lobbies or hallways of the parliament buildings in London where Members of Parliament gather before and after debates. People wishing to influence the opinions of politicians waited in these lobbies to contact the politian to talk to persuade them of the validity of their particular viewpoint. This is still the basic meaning of lobbying but nowadays the term refers to more complicated ways of representing views to parliament, as hanging around in the halls is now longer an option easily available to members of the public.

Many decisions made in parliaments are a result of lobbying either to get a subject discussed or to change legislation as it goes through the various stages before becoming law. However it is not just parliament that can be lobbied - other useful/influential organisations, the public or sections of the public such as those who go to the theatre or cinema, and the media are all targets for lobbying with a view to getting them to bring pressure on the government.

Rules
  • The system make sure you know what is legal and illegal and note that political activity is influencing the outcome of an election such as by participating in political election campaigns, but lobbying is influencing the outcome of pending legislation.
  • Politics is consumer driven so help your MP, MSP or Assembly Member understand why your position is important to their constituents. Homework - understand every aspect of the issue and find out everything you can about the people you are lobbying - their track record on arts issues, their own interests can be relevant etc
  • Attitude be honest, trustworthy and credible and stay calm, also be positive and do not criticise other people's personalities or motives. Become known as a reliable resource.
  • There are no permanent friends or enemies don't take your traditional friends for granted and don't dismiss politicians because of their party affiliation.
  • Build a bond, not a gap reseach things you may have in common with the politician and use shared values to create easy, frequent communication with them.
  • Partnerships make allies amongst other organisations
  • Diversity use as many different methods of lobbying as possible, think creatively.
Techniques

The first point of call should be fellow Equtiy members or members of other interested unions such as BECTU or the Musicians Union. Make use of your local Equity branch to raise the issue and discuss ways of campaigning and raising support.

  • Letter Writing Campaigns important, effective and fairly easy to achieve. Using your newsletter, meetings etc to give members the text of the letter you want them to write and ask them to send it to whoever your target is eg local politician, local newspaper, the owners of the venue, the company funders etc. This way your target will get lots of correspondence and will have to take notice because of the sheer quantity.
  • Groups get groups of members to monitor their local press ie adopt a newspaper and anytime something of relevance is mentioned in the paper (such as a threat to a venue) the group brings this to the attention of the union via their nearest office or most relevant Organiser, and a reply is sent.
  • Support letters try to get letters of support from other organisations and groups so that when you write to or meet your target you can say that in addition to your fellow union members you also have the support of the principals of all dance and drama training colleges, local historical society, the technicians, the film distributors etc, Use your affiliations.
  • Petitions very effective, hand them out at meetings, take them on visits to casts, put copies into rehearsal spaces etc and get as many signatures as possible before handing them in. Planning is key with petitions as they can take a long time to get together so the earlier you start them the better it is. get them all returned to a central point. Deliver them personally and try to get some media coverage.
  • Email a quick and cheap way of getting information to politians, journalists etc. Set up a group email of all the people you are targetting and then you can send them bulletins, letters etc regularly. You must be sure that their email addresses are in the public domain or you may be violating the data protection legislation. Discuss the content of any such correspondence with your union official before sending it.
  • Where are they? Try to keep track of where the politicians are going to be eg opening a building, giving a speech, making a visit and get people there to hand out information to those attending and to the politician themselves. But if you do this make sure you do not jeopardise the event, and always be peaceful in your approach. You do not want to run the risk of prosecution -talk to your union official and the the organisers in advance.
  • Marches can be difficult to organise but highly effective if only visually as the media will usually cover them. Make sure they are well-organised, clear messages on placards and banners, no breaches of the peace, clear information given to those taking part about the objectives and details such as the route, you must clear in advance with police any plans for a march and agree any road closures etc, try to make sure the day you choose is a good one for news coverage.
  • The Media use it well both national and local (press, radio, tv).
  • News is made to happen, it is managed and manipulated and should not be left to chance, it must be planned and timed. Don't believe it when a journalist says " this is off the record" - there is really no such thing. Discuss any media approaches with your Equity organiser or our press office before going forward with them.

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