How to be an effective Constituency Labour Party (CLP) Youth Coordinator Overview Being the Youth Coordinator of a CLP is an exciting opportunity and means your local Party will depend on you to lead and facilitate the activities of young members within your local area. It will require you to encourage and support young members in your constituency to get active, as well as leading on recruitment and engagement with young people. Stand for election to be a CLP Youth Coordinator It is up to each CLP whether they have a Youth Coordinator, however we are keen to encourage as many local parties to do this as possible. It is recommended that Youth Coordinators are 14-26 years old. If you are interested in standing to be your CLP s Youth Coordinator ask your CLP Secretary for more information. Your main roles Recruiting young people to the party as members and registered supporters Keeping young members active & informed Organising events for young members, supporters and local young people Representing and promoting the views of young members Coordinating with other sections of the party on youth issues This may sound like a lot of work but remember, you will have the support of your local party behind you! Recruiting young people to the party as members and registered supporters All the officers of the CLP have a duty to recruit and then engage young members in your local party but it is expected that you as Youth Coordinator will take a lead on this. Membership The Labour Party offers special rates for young members this includes everybody under the age of 27: For those between the ages of 14-19: 1 per year For those between the ages of 20-26: 1 per month ( 12 per year) These substantially discounted rates are a fantastic recruitment tool so should be prominently displayed on any literature you produce. There are two ways to join the Labour Party:
Online www.younglabour.org.uk/join Membership form available at www.younglabour.org.uk/resources Direct debit is the recommended method of payment as it is the easiest and quickest for the Party to process. If an individual has no bank account, then another individual residing at the same address can set up a direct debit on their behalf. Registered Supporters Through the Refounding Labour process we found that there was widespread support for involving supporters more formally and consistently in the party. Around the country there are many excellent examples of individual MPs and CLPs mobilising support from people in their local community who back Labour but are not members of the party. These supporter networks can be mobilised to back local campaigns and add to local party efforts at election time; be invited to local events and be consulted on local and national matters by email. It s completely free to sign up as Registered Supporter and you do so by visiting http://www.labour.org.uk/registered-supporters Recruitment The best way to recruit new members is to be visible, accessible and campaigning on issues that young people care about. You should consider how best to make your Young Labour group visible and high-profile. Campaigns are a great way to build relationships with local people and crucial in demonstrating to them that we are on their side. Many young people engage with politics for the first time through single-issue groups, such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace. Reaching out to groups with similar values in the community can be an extremely effective way of recruiting more young people into the party. This could start with anything from working together on a campaign or holding a joint event. You could try to find out if any groups are running campaigns that affect young people and offer to work together on them, for example to save a local youth club or get a new skate park built. Street stalls have traditionally been a very effective recruiting method. Consider these and also your venue places such as street festivals in your local area, music events, and shopping centres are often great places to recruit young people. Make sure you have an ask of people. A petition is often a good way of engaging people. It could be on anything from a national issue like youth unemployment to a local issue like a local youth services being cut. Following up on information gathered while door knocking. Turning Labour voters into members or formal supporters. Phonebanks and targeted letters have proven an effective way of doing this. Anyone in your CLP with access to Contact Creator will be able to provide you with information on young people that have identified as Labour supporters. There are also model letters and recruitment script on Membersnet. Schools Outreach work into local schools can be a great way to reach young people. Most schools now have a Citizenship programme running and while some schools can be sensitive to political parties, our experience is that many of them are happy for other young people to come in and talk to their pupils about their experience in a political
party. London Young Labour have successfully piloted a scheme in combination with Liberal Youth and Conservative Future over the past year. We are working on wider schools outreach action plan and on a booklet aimed at young people learning about politics that explains about how the Labour Party works. Colleges/universities: - If there is no local Labour Student Club and think one could work on that campus then why not help set one up! As well as helping you recruit more people to the party, it will also provide your local party with a way into many campuses that are resistant to allow party politics on campus. If you get in touch with Labour Students they will be able to provide advice and perhaps even materials to help you do so. You can find out more information and contact Labour Students on their website: www.labourstudents.org.uk. - If you don t think it s the type of campus that a Labour Student Club could work at then why not hold an event on campus or start a campaign on issue important to students. This will help you recruit members to your local party and will be incredibly helpful in raising the profile of Labour on campus. Keeping young members active & informed It is crucial that you make it as easy as possible to get involved in your CLP. Ensure you are doing the basics: regular communication, events, training and valuing everyone irrespective of time they can give. The key to getting more members active is understanding that different people join the party for different reasons and often want different things from membership. That s why it is essential to ensure that there are a variety of different activities being offered. While some members want to discuss policy ideas, others might prefer to campaign on a specific issue or in a specific area. Ensuring that everyone has the chance to participate in the way they want to is essential in getting more members active. It is important to ensure that all meetings are accessible for young members. Meetings must be held in suitable venues, for example many young members would be unable to and/or uncomfortable with attending meetings in pubs. Accessible times, central locations, interesting meeting formats and a welcoming atmosphere are also very important. New member phonebanks - It is good practice to hold regular phonebanks of new members. This involves calling around young members to provide them with information on how they can get involved and answer any questions or concerns they might have. Hearing directly from another young person that is already involved often helps overcome any nervousness about getting more involved. This can be particularly effective in the run up to an event. Your CLP Secretary will be able to provide you with a list of members. New member guides Refounding Labour means that in the future every new member will receive a welcome pack with all the information they need to get involved. This was something that many young members called for and is a massive step forward. Many CLPs also produce a new young member s guide of their own with key information about their local party. Feedback they have received shows that young members have found this an invaluable resource and it has lead to a noticeable increase in the number of new young members getting active in their CLP. If you have a local Labour Student Club then it is important to make use of that great asset. Contact your local Labour Student Club to get them to encourage their members
to get involved in the CLP. You can do this by contacting Labour Students through their website: www.labourstudents.org.uk. Holding joint events and campaigns with a club is a great way to increase participation in your local party. Organising events for young members, supporters and local people It is important that all events organised by your CLP or Young Labour group are fun, interesting and accessible to all potential members and activists. Making your event interesting People join the Labour Party for a whole variety of different reasons and looking for different things from membership make sure that your early events will appeal to as many people as possible. Ensure that you mix your events and choices of venue. Going for drinks or holding a drinks event can make the event an informal and welcoming one but bear in mind that it can also be off-putting for some people. Invite a guest speaker - A well known politician is ideal as this will help draw an audience. Local politicians will be delighted that you are working to involve more young people so invite them to speak at your events, attend a social or campaigning event. Be aware that new members may not know who is who so explain it. Make it interesting by asking them to cover issues that are familiar to all. If you are running a policy forum or other event, pick a topical issue that will be interesting and generate debate. It could be anything from humanitarian interventionism to free schools the important thing is that it s something that people will have opinions and generate debate. Nothing is worse than an event with a boring yet worthy topic that everyone agrees on! Making your event accessible and welcoming The venue should be public, safe and in a central, well known place some people will be nervous of travelling alone to somewhere they don t know, especially in the evenings. This is crucial to the success of any event for example, running your events in a pub every time will exclude those members under the age of 18 and potentially put off other members who may not wish to go to an event in that environment. Ensure other experienced activists working with you speak to everybody to make them feel welcome and find out what they would be interested in getting involved in and what has encouraged them to come along. Everybody should be involved in discussions whether it is a social gathering, a speaker meeting or a policy forum. The topic should be interesting to all and one where you don t have to be an expert to take part. Don t be afraid to ask experienced activists, or people who are experts in a particular field to speak more than once or twice during policy forums or Q&As while giving everyone the chance to have their say and not dominating the conversation. While you shouldn t be afraid of organising policy forums or campaigning activity for new members, it is important that new people are welcomed and that everything is explained clearly. You should not expect anyone to have any prior knowledge or experience when attending such events. For example, if you are running a policy workshop on a specific
issue, you should not have to be an expert in that area to attend. It is also particularly important not to use jargon and acronyms as this can be off putting to new members. Follow formal gatherings or meetings with some informal socialising. This can be as simple as going to a pub or café after the meeting or organise a short drinks reception or lunch so new members get a chance to mingle. Advertising your event Communication is crucial. The way you advertise it will be important in getting your event noticed, and making sure that your members know they will be made to feel welcome. Always send a written notice with precise details of where and when the event will take place. This could be sent by post, but an email is a cheap, quick and efficient means of doing this. CLP Secretaries will be happy to send out emails to young members for you. Letters or emails should be short, to the point and not too formal. Give people full information about the event. It is an informal get together, say so. If it is a more formal question and answer session let them know who the speakers are in advance as they might welcome the chance to prepare a question before hand. Make sure you publicise the event widely. You can contact lots of young members via Social Networking Sites such as Facebook. Find out if your local or regional Labour Party is sending a mailing out and see if you can include something or to put it on Membersnet. Often organisations will send out e-newsletters to a wide audience you may not otherwise be able to reach; ask to include details of your event in them. Where possible try to follow up any communication with a phone call. You don t need to pester people but by calling you make it clear that they would be made very welcome. Often knowing someone else who is attending can encourage people to come along and get involved. Posters may also be useful way of gaining publicity for events, and are a useful way of gaining new interest. Put them up where young people gather. Where there is a large university-based membership, you might want to work with the Labour Student Club who may be able to help with advertising on campus and to their members. If there is no Labour Student Club you may wish to put up posters and contact any relevant departments (such as Politics or Social Policy) to ask them to inform their students. Follow up your event with an email to all those who attended thanking them for coming, letting them know what other events you have coming up and asking them what sort of events they would be interested in coming to in the future. If it s a campaigning event it might be a good idea to get the MP to send it Fundraising & Sponsorship You might want to think about where you can get sponsorship, funds or other support for your event. Think about potential sponsors who could help fund your event Local politicians, Trade Unions, Co-op. You can approach these organisations directly but it might be a good idea to speak to the Treasurer or someone else in your CLP who may already have a relationship with them. Local Labour friendly businesses might be able to provide refreshments, such as food after campaigning or drinks at a social.
Where possible keep events free but don t feel you can t charge something small/nominal. If so charging in advance helps you with upfront costs and also means people have made some commitment to attending Fundraising events can be incredibly simple to organise. It could be anything from a curry night to a drinks reception or BBQ. The important thing is that it is fun! You might also want to think about more long-term financing of your activities such as sponsorship agreements with organisations like trade unions or Co-op or regular small donations (e.g. 10 a month) from individuals. You must declare any donations to your CLP Treasurer. This includes gifts in kind, such a free or discounted products or services. If you require any advice on fundraising, sponsorship or donations please speak to your CLP Treasurer. After your event It is important to follow up your event with a call or, at the very least, an email to thank them for attending, ask for feedback on the event and what type of events they would like to attend Hold a follow up event or activity soon after the first event to capitalise on the momentum it will generate. This could be anything from a social, campaigning session to a policy forum or debate. Representing and promoting the views of young members An important job of a Youth Coordinator is to ensure that the voices of young members are heard in your local party. It is your responsibility to promote the interests of young members and ensure your local party properly supports its young members at all times. This can include supporting delegates to attend youth conference, supporting any campaigns young members want to run and more generally ensuring young members are included in all of the activities of the local party. Coordinating with other sections of the party on youth issues The Labour Party is made of many different sections including local parties, trade unions and affiliates. Working closely with other sections of the party is important for any thriving local party. As Youth Coordinator you will be expected to facilitate communication and coordination on youth issues to the variety of sections of the Party in your area. Think about how you can work with: Young Labour Every region has a representative on Young Labour National Committee. It is their role to support youth activities in their region and will be able to provide advice and support to you. If you are thinking of setting up a new Young Labour group your regional representative can be an invaluable source of advice and support. To find out who your regional representative is and contact them go to: www.younglabour.org.uk/young-labour-national-committee
National Policy Forum (NPF) Youth Representatives Every region also has a young member to represent them on the NPF. It is important that you feed back to NPF Youth Reps the outcomes of young member policy discussions in your area. You might want to invite your NPF Youth Rep to hear the views of your local members at an event. To find out who your regional representative is and contact them go to: http://www.younglabour.org.uk/national-policy-forum-youth-representatives Labour Party Regional and National Office Every region of England, Scotland & Wales have offices and are able to provide information, advice and support. If you want to set up a Young Labour group you must contact your relevant office and seek their approval. For information on how you can contact your relevant office go to: www.younglabour.org.uk/labour-party-regional--national-offices Labour Students A close relationship with your local Labour Student Club is extremely important. It is something that can be massively beneficial to both the club and your local party. To find out if your local college or university has a Labour Student Club and how to contact them or for more information on how to set up a Labour Student Club go to: www.labourstudents.org.uk We want to hear from you! There are many Youth Coordinators and Young Labour groups across the country doing fantastic work. The sharing of best practise is an invaluable part of training and support. We will be doing more to share and recognise best practise in the future, including Annual Best Practise Awards. If you have held a successful event or recruitment drive, ran a campaign that s captured the imagination of young people in your area or have done anything else you think could help other Youth Coordinators then please let us know. We are also keen to help you publicise your events and activities. If you have news story, event or campaign that you would like publicised on the Young Labour website just email younglabour@labour.org.uk with the details. If you need any further advice, have questions please get in contact with the National Youth Officer, Dean Carlin on younglabour@labour.org.uk