Author: Francesca Woodward

So, the Florence and the Machine tour has come to an end. Our lucky volunteer campaigners were privy to some amazing, sell-out shows in venues in Edinburgh, Blackpool, Wolverhampton and London. Really breathtaking stage scenery, with flowers, lights like stars, ornate birdcages and a GIANT disco ball where Florence made her entrance (who doesn’t want to arrive in a giant disco ball? I know I do). The set list and performance was simply divine too, really something.

Obviously, this wasn’t about blagging free tickets to sold-out shows – it was about connecting with music lovers and talking to them about things that really matter – poverty, injustice, and how together we can overcome them. With some determination and people power, we really can make a difference.

If you’ve been following my blogs, you might already know that the campaign we were talking about at the Florence and the Machine gigs was the Robin Hood Tax, a tiny (averaging 0.05%) tax on final transactions between banks that could raise billions, that could be fed back into domestic healthcare and education, helping the world’s poorest, and funding projects designed to help us deal with the effects of climate change. It’s not without its fair share of celebrity and political supporters, look out for the new Sienna Miller video launching tomorrow on the site, and please have a look at the first video, “The Banker”, starring Bill Nighy. Oh yeah, there’s also got a video with Sir Ben Kingsley in it… But it’s the idea that matter, not the celebrities. The supporters we need are YOU. YOU are the ones that really can make a difference, YOU are the ones that can make or break a campaign and ultimately YOU will be the ones that benefit in some way. Show some support if you haven’t already!

Anyway, back to the tour. Approaching people to talk to them about a campaign is pretty nerve-wracking for a first-timer (which I was), knowing how to approach people in the first instance was what I found to be most difficult. A lot of it involves reading people – looking at the person, and assessing what kind of approach they would be most receptive to. Some people are responsive to a bubbly, energetic, almost silly introduction, and some people are more responsive to a gentler smile-and-”excuse me” approach. One thing I found was that once the initial approach had been made, getting people to show support and sign the petition was relatively easy – the campaign idea is brilliant and the cause worthwhile, so the work was pretty much done.

I got a lot from the experience, aside from a free gig ticket. I got to talk to many different kinds of people (Florence’s fanbase is pretty diverse), got to hear first hand the public response to our campaign, and it was an excellent exercise in building self-confidence. I’d thoroughly recommend it.

If this sounds like something you’d like to get involved in, there’s still time. Become a Local Events Campaign Coordinator! Apply here.

Francesca Woodward wants you to join the Oxjam team and lead volunteer campaigners throughout 2010.

Credit: Toby Adamson/Oxfam

Love music? Love going to gigs? Love changing the world? Hate injustice? Me too.

In the past, Oxfam has campaigned at a number of band tours, some big, some small. We go along and hope to raise awareness about poverty and suffering through our campaigns, and try to inspire people to take action.

With the summer fast approaching music gigs start to pick up audiences, so it’s an excellent time to campaign. Oxfam is looking to recruit motivated, happy-go-lucky people willing to donate a few hours of their time (sometimes at evenings and weekends) to help coordinate our campaigning presence in their local towns.

We call them ‘Local Events Campaign Coordinators’! We need you in over 30 major cities across the UK, to lead and manage teams of volunteer campaigners at numerous exciting events throughout 2010, and to help campaigning during our legendary Oxjam festival in the autumn.

It’s an excellent opportunity to gain some really useful experience of inspiring a team of volunteers, organising campaigning tactics at events, as well as a fantastic opportunity to see first hand how an organisation like Oxfam is run – all invaluable stuff you can put on your CV .  Aside from the more practical benefits of getting work experience and learning new skills along the way (oh yes, we will train you too!), you will be supporting Oxfam in fighting the good fight against poverty and injustice (right on! Right?). Our motto is “do what you love doing, just change the world while you do it”, and this is just the chance for those of you that want to make a difference, and have loads of fun whilst you’re doing it.

Oh, mentioning fun… I almost forgot the really good bit. Band tours. Some really rather lovely musicians have let us have a ‘campaigning presence’ at their gigs… Ever heard of a band called Coldplay? They’re our mates. We’ve been on tours with them, as well as Editors, Just Jack, Feeder and Embrace to name but a few, and in a couple of weeks we will be joining the lovely Florence and the Machine on tour!!!

Sooooo exciting! Oh yes. But we want more. We believe that music makes the world go round, it is a fantastic unifier of people and music events are a fantastic campaigning opportunity.

As a Local Events Campaign Coordinator, your role would be to make sure that our campaign presence at events in your area is effective, well managed, and a good representative of what Oxfam stands for. If you think that you’re up for the challenge, if you stand for what we stand for, and if you love music and music events, this could be the start of a fantastic summer. Give us your time. We’ll give you our love.

So if you’re interested email me on [email protected] and we will send you an application form.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Frankie