AIMS is delighted to be hosting a series of Tools for Change campaigning workshops to be led by Ruth Weston. Ruth's journey of Birth Activism and Maternity Service Campaigning has often intertwined with AIMS campaigning and we look forward to working with her on these workshops.
Ruth's newly published book Born Stroppy: Make change Happen is available from the AIMS shop and you can read a review of the book in the June AIMS Journal.
We hope that you will want to join us and let Ruth share her campaigning wisdom. Tickets include a copy of Ruth's book, and there is a reduced price ticket available for those who are able to make both workshops.
So, over to Ruth the author of Born Stroppy: Make change Happen to explain about the Tools for Change workshops
"Years ago I saw a fabulous cartoon of a trussed up man with a smug woman saying 'Some of it I learnt at self-defence classes, the rest I made up myself'.
"Tools for Change is the same sort of course. From my vast experience of building campaigns and lobbying for change in maternity but also in the wider community I am sharing practical tips, skills and ideas that you can use to have a go yourself. I will also share the kind of information and advice that someone can give only if they have both trained theoretically in liberation work and done it in real life. The purpose of the workshop is to enable you to have a go and make the rest up yourself!"
Workshop 2 Campaigning Skills Workshop - How you can do it: some basic skills and advanced tips
For this second workshop we will focus on two essential skills to practice and learn. Of course the idea is that you can also apply this learning to other campaign tactics such as letter writing and petitions.
1. How to ask a question in a public meeting or conference, with how and why this tactic works.
2. Drafting a press release - and how and why you tweak it for different audiences
The first in this series of workshops will take place on Tuesday 30th September, please see www.tickettailor.com/events/aims/1689313 for bookings
Workshop 1 Building Allies
What are allies, Who they are and Where we might find them.
We are going to learn:
1. How we generally don't make change happen without allies - that is, people who help us reach our (shared) goal.
2. The kind of allies we have, and what their interests and motivations are to our shared goal.
3. Explore how we might work with opponents to turn them into allies or use their interests and motivations to lever them to make change happen.
Tickets
Tickets cost £30 for AIMS Members and £40 for others. If you are not already an AIMS Member and would like to consider supporting AIMS, then you can find details here: Join AIMS - Become a Member. The ticket price includes an £12 voucher for the AIMS shop so you can buy a copy of Ruth's book (or something else if you already have the book). You can buy tickets here https://www.tickettailor.com/events/aims/1691703
Reduced price ticket are available for this second workshop, if you have bought a ticket for the first workshop. These will be £12 for AIMS Members and £20 for others.
This workshop will be valuable for anyone wanting to improve maternity services.
We are offering two free place for student midwives on each of our workshops, and we would also like to offer reduced price tickets to anyone who would find the full amount difficult to afford. Please email admin@aims.org.uk with your details including the workshop you would like to attend.
Full list of current AIMS Workshops can be found here.
Any profits from these workshops go to supporting AIMS work.