Dear 6-head – yes if you receive this you are one of our heads!
We have sometimes kept quiet during election times because as a community we are bi-partisan. I know this is incredibly short notice, but every little bit helps.
To quote Margaret Mead:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
We are a community made up of curious and committed change makers. We are defined as being creative in communicating complicated ideas through creativity, experiential exploration and bold campaigns. We celebrate diversity of perspective and are a platform for new ideas. We connect brilliant minds to find innovative solutions to big problems and we have fun while we do it. We are human, tolerant, inclusive and we stand up for what we believe in. It is with enormous pride that I am part of this community. We have a voice and can help others to find theirs.
We know approximately one third of registered voters don’t vote, these people could change everything, and these people are our friends. Let’s connect with them in a positive way.
I’m sharing some suggestions and campaigns that I think are brilliant for us to to share.
If you have other suggestions, we will help you share and promote them using our twitter handle @6_heads and through our facebook group.
If you would like to be more actively involved over the next 48 hours please email me at louisa.harris@6-heads.com so I can give you access to our social media.
Make things simple
Find your polling station
The lovely folks at Democracy Club have made it easy to find your polling station. Simply enter your postcode into Where Do I Vote?
REMEMBER AND REMIND OTHERS YOU DON’T NEED YOUR BALLOT PAPER TO VOTE. JUST REMEMBER TO TURN UP
Decide when you are going to vote
Polling stations are open from 7am until 10pm.
In 2010 and 2015 some people got caught out by unexpected queues just before polling stations closed. So plan when you’ll go: before or after work, in the morning, afternoon or evening.
Go with friends. Make it social. Or perhaps go after you pick the children after school, show them what democracy looks like.
Check the weather forecast
It’s the UK: Somewhere, some time, some people are going to get rained on. Don’t let a little rain put you off, this is important. Take an umbrella with you.
Don’t panic if you can’t get to a polling station
If you aren’t able to cast your vote in person, you can apply to have someone you trust cast your vote for you in an emergency up until 5pm on voting day.
We hope this doesn’t happen to you. But if it does, do this.
Please share
In 2015, 35% of registered voters didn’t cast a ballot in the General Election. People who compare candidates are much more likely to go vote, so please share please.represent.me to help people plan their vote – research shows it works!
- Want to be heard by your new MP no matter who wins? Under 18 and want your voice to count? https://please.represent.me/survey/122 #GE2017 #TurnUp (tweet this)
- About 30% of candidates in #GE2017 are women – up from 26% in 2015 – #HaveYourSay https://please.represent.me/survey/122 (tweet this)
Still undecided? https://please.represent.me/survey/122 #GE2017 (tweet this)
Start open conversations with your friends
Let’s not assume everybody is addicted to the news, can penetrate political rhetoric or wants to listen to endless diatribe. If people have better things to do with their time, we get where they are coming from. However, research shows people shy away from voting if they don’t feel they understand the debate.
Luckily there are some excellent and simple online tools which enable you to discover which party is most aligned to the issues you care about.
So far we love:
Represent – Every day democracy
Utilise our influence as comms/sustainability/HR people
I know our community is made up of people with roles in comms and HR. We also know one of the reasons people don’t vote is because deadlines, train delays and the weather get in the way. Research shows that when people plan their trip to the polling booth in advance, they are significantly more likely to vote. It’s not too late for us to send our internal comms and get in touch with leadership teams to make sure employees know their bosses support them making allowances to get to the polling booth.
A great resource to support this is the #timetovote campaign.
http://timetovote.co.uk/ or search #timetovote
Engage and empower brilliant women through the #Shevotes campaign
Our community is made up of magnificent humans. However, as we know that young women under 30 are least likely to vote, maybe we should focus on them. I am one of these women, between us we know many more.
We can help engage young women through #SHEVOTES by:
- Sharing content using the hashtag #SHEvotes (there’s some sample copy at the end of this email too). I’m attaching some of our favourite pieces and there are more in this folder: bit.ly/shevotescontent
- Creating your own content and use the #SHEvotes tag – one thing we’ve been playing with is writing #SheVotes on a mirror with lipstick or eyeliner (makes a great selfie along these lines)
- Using #SHEvotes with any content you already have planned for the election
This is a neutral campaign – we aren’t telling women how to vote, just encouraging them to exercise their democratic rights.
INSTAGRAM: @she.votes www.instagram.com/she.votes/
FACEBOOK: @SHEvotes www.facebook.com/SHEvotes2017/
TWITTER: @shevotes2017 https://twitter.com/shevotes2017
WEBSITE: www.shevotes.uk
Sample posts:
- Your vote is powerful. Use it, and remind your friends to use theirs on Thursday! #SHEvotes #GeneralElection #GE2017 <add image/gif>
- Young women are the group least likely to vote. Go on, surprise them on Thursday. #SHEvotes #GeneralElection #GE2017 <add image/gif>
- You have no idea how powerful you are. Make your voice heard this Thursday at the #GeneralElection. #SHEvotes <add image/gif>
- I vote, you vote, #SheVotes. Make your voice heard on Thursday in the #GeneralElection <add image/gif>
- Votes for Women. We got them, let’s use them. #SHEvotes #GeneralElection #GE2017 <add image/gif>
- Think the world’s gone mad? Use your power to sort it out. Don’t forget to VOTE this Thursday. #SHEvotes #GeneralElection #GE2017 <add image/gif>
- Nevertheless, she voted. #SHEvotes #GeneralElection #GE2017 <add image/gif>
Use your sphere of influence, we all have one – thank you Christiana Figueres for teaching me this!
Share this post, email your friends who have a social media presence.When we start small, the ripple effect can be huge.
Connect and share with our community
Please don’t feel alone or powerless to affect change. Join our facebook group. and get involved in twitter debate @6_heads #GE2017 #SHEvotes
Finally, we meet on the third Tuesday of every month. So if you would like to be more involved with 6-heads on an ongoing basis please save the date for Tuesday 20th June and email me at louisa.harris@6-heads.com for more info.
This post, was in part inspired by a family emergency this weekend which highlighted for me my love of the EU, free movement and the NHS.
So whatever you believe in, please stand up for it and let us stand up for it together.
Love
6heads
xx
6heads 