This post is from friend of 6heads, Matthew Davis. He is Founding Director of 3C consult create communicate (www.3-c.uk.net) which provides strategic campaigns and communications advice and support across all sectors. Matthew supports Tottenham Hotspur which, he suggests, equips him all too well for the vicissitudes of campaigning. @3Cmatthew.

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You know the score. Campaigners are the goalkeepers of civil society. We get kicked when we’re down and blamed for every defeat; we go from heroes to zeros and back again in the blink of a mud-clogged eye. We’re essential to every team but also stand a little outside of them too.

The qualities I look for in a campaigner are commitment, a sense of the absurd and an ability to win over skeptics from both inside and outside the organisation. A person who’s focused, a tad exhibitionist, a risk taker – ready and willing to be the last person standing when the going gets tough. Someone, in fact, with all the traits of a goalkeeper.

So who’d would want to be a goalie…I mean campaigner? Well, thankfully, plenty of you do. Because when the whistle blows for full-time and your goal’s been secured; when you witness the smiling faces of your supporters; when you and your team mates are celebrating and your opponents have scored own goal after own goal. Well, there’s nothing else quite like it. Just ask Manuel Neuer* or Hope Solo.**

*World Cup winning goalkeeper for Germany, 2014; **Women’s World Cup winning goalkeeper for USA, 2015.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-If you want to brush up on your ‘goalkeeping’, please join 3C and Directory of Social Change (www.dsc.org.uk) at a brand new campaigning event:

Campaigning and lobbying in a changing political and social climate, 27 November, London.

 This conference is designed for campaigners working at both a local and national level. Whether you’re an experienced campaigner looking for new ways of working, or someone looking to develop new skills, this conference will provide both the inspiration and the tools you’ll need. The packed programme will help not-for-profit, NGOs, social enterprises, community groups and others who are looking to maximise the impact of their campaign and lobbying activity.

Book: http://tinyurl.com/pukfm4l

Join the conversation on Twitter #CampaigningDay

Matthew will be running two sessions on the day; other speakers include Craig Bennett, CEO of Friends of the Earth, Linda Butcher, CEO of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, and David Babbs, Executive Director of 38 Degrees.