You spoke, we listened

Recently, we asked for your opinion on what support you need from us during this period of coronavirus restrictions. Here’s what you told us.

Where you’re at

As expected, the pandemic has impacted lots of people’s availability for campaigning. Nearly a quarter of you now have increased caring responsibilities or demands on your time.

However 68% of you now have the same or more free time than usual, and want to get more involved as a result. This is really heartening to hear. With so many momentous changes happening, we need people ready to take action, and to build a community that is working for a fairer, greener Scotland.

What you’d like from us

Campaigning support

The survey showed there is a broad range of interest in our campaigning work, with lots of people keen to keep tuning in to our webinar series. There were also suggestions of topics for future webinars, which we very much appreciate. If you have a suggestion, please email activism[@]foe.scot

Half of respondents wanted to be linked up with local campaign groups in their area. The good news is that the coming weeks will see the launch of our new People Power Network.

This new initiative aims to provide FoE Scotland local groups as well as groups allied with our work with access to fantastic resources, support and training. It will also be a way to help people connect with existing groups in their local area, start their own and get campaigning on the issues they care most about. Watch this space!

The survey also showed that people are also really eager to take action online, such as filling out petitions and emailing local politicians. Whilst we have scaled back on this kind of campaigning, due to the pressure on politicians and civil servant’s in the short term, we will be restarting this work soon, once our campaign for a Just and Green Recovery from Coronavirus takes a more public footing.

The survey offered a wide range of things that Friends of the Earth Scotland can provide, and you replied with lots of great suggestions of your own. These include support for great local campaigns, campaigning success stories from elsewhere in the world, and even suggestions for new campaigns we should start working on!

There was also enthusiasm for resources and guides for digital campaigning. You can find lots of help on this page, and we’re working hard to develop even more. Please send any further requests for support in campaigning to activism[@]foe.scot, and we’ll do our best to help.

Our communications

We’re always interested to find out what type of content you’d like to see more of on our emails and social channels. There was great demand for information from respected thinkers about the transformative changes we need for people and the planet, as well as more inspiring stories of hope and solidarity.

We’ll redouble our efforts to find and share that kind of quality content that spells out why and how we can create a fairer, greener economy and society.

Joining us

Lots of you wanted to know more about how you could become a member of Friends of the Earth Scotland, so you’ll have hopefully had an email explaining that. You can learn about why your support is so important by visiting this page

Thanks to everyone who took part in the survey – it has helped us better understand your needs during this crisis.