NCADC Campaigning Toolkit
Community campaigning is also referred to as grass-roots campaigning, and in this Toolkit we use the term to mean any kind of campaigning that involves supporters getting together and taking action.
Political campaigning and legal campaigning might also involve elements of community campaigning, and community campaigning often also employs the tools of internet campaigning. The emphasis is on people working together. This is especially important with communities being disrupted by the increasing use of immigration detention. This disruption means you may have to think creatively about who your community is – see ‘Building Communities’. Communities such as schools and faith groups can be very powerful community campaigners.
Community campaigning can be a great opportunity for individual campaigns to work together – a solidarity meeting or public protest could be organised that raises awareness of several campaigns, and general issues. This can be a good way of people providing each other with mutual support and, together, you will have a louder voice.
for last-minute airline campaigning
See ‘Imminent Deportation: Last-minute Campaigning Actions’.
These can be quite low-key, or on a very big scale. They are useful for bringing together a broad range of people – for example, people who don’t want to get involved in public demonstrations, but want to show their support for a campaign. They could be in the form of a coffee morning, an evening meeting, or a campaign preparation day.
If possible, take photographs of the meetings. Photos are a really good way of demonstrating how much support a campaign has (especially if the person at risk of deportation is in detention).
If you want people to write letters of support or sign a petition, solidarity meetings can be a good way of getting lots of people together to do so at the same time.
Another important element of solidarity meetings is the idea of the safe space. This is especially so if supporters include undocumented migrants, or young people. It means you can control who comes to the meeting and how public it is.
The key difference we make in this Toolkit between solidarity meetings and protests is that protests are more public. They would tend to take place in the public eye, and be designed to get the attention of as many people as possible.
Protests and vigils are often used in issue-based campaigning, such as the weekly Zimbabwe vigil outside the Zimbabwe embassy in London, raising awareness of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and the concerns of Zimbabwean asylum-seekers and refugees.
Protests and vigils can also be used to raise awareness of an individual campaign, and to show the person at risk of deportation and decision-makers how much support there is for them.
If you have time to hold regular protests, it’s best for them to be in the same place at a regular time. You might choose to hold a protest at a known local site, and meet there every week. This allows momentum to grow behind a campaign, and means that campaign actions aren’t entirely dependent on emails or people phoning each other.
Another possible protest action is a gathering outside a bail hearing or an appeal hearing. RAPAR, a Manchester-based human rights organisation which works with displaced people, has helped campaign groups organise these gatherings, including for the successful Lydia and Bernard campaign. These gatherings work well in Manchester because the immigration tribunal is in the city centre, on a busy shopping street.
If you have a legal representative, check with them first about holding a protest outside a court. The decision is ultimately yours, but it’s good to get their advice on the matter. A large presence outside the court (identified with the campaign by wearing T-shirts or holding signs, for example) is very clear evidence that the person at risk of deportation is an important part of the community, and may support legal arguments being made in court (for example, on the basis of private life in the UK).
Printing postcards or leaflets to send to MPs or the Home Secretary are a good way of giving people something they can use or hand on themselves to build a campaign.
For any public protest or demonstration, it’s important to inform the appropriate authority you are planning an event. Not all protests, however, have legal permission to take place. Be clear of the legal issues involved. Green and Black Cross are an organisation that provides legal support for protests and you can approach them for advice if you are organising a public demonstration.
If you want to organise a direct action think about the risks and who should be involved. Even entirely legal direct actions may attract the attention of the police or security, and it is generally advisable that only people with British citizenship or secure status should take part (remember that even indefinite leave to remain can be revoked, though only for serious crimes).
You can find out more about direct actions protesting against deportations from the following groups and networks:
No Borders is a network of activists who call for freedom of movement. They have a presence in many countries, especially across Europe, and there are local branches in the UK you can join.
The Stop Deportations network works to build resistance to deportations, particularly mass deportations on charter flights. It is a loose network that communicates through an email group to arrange actions and meetings.
No One is Illegal campaigns for the total abolition of immigration controls. They work to raise public awareness on this, and are involved in demonstrations against deportations.
Community campaigning does involve some level of public campaigning, but this can be kept to a low level (see ‘Solidarity Meetings’ above). Community campaigning at its most effective when it mobilises local communities and involves different types of campaigning to work together.
