Tripod Training, our Grassroots Trainers Network cousins north of the border have been working hard to bring you this exciting programme…

Apply now!!

Join the Organising for Power Programme and you get not just high quality training but months of continued support with your campaigns for racial justice!

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Are you an organiser or campaigner tackling the root causes of xenophobia and racism and promoting the rights of refugees and other migrants?

Does it sometimes feel like fire-fighting rather than organising and campaigning for systemic change?

Would you like to learn how to have a bigger impact and plan campaigns that win?

Are you involved in a social justice organisation with a high turnover of organisers? Want to consider how to make your organising more accessible and sustainable?

If so the “Organising for Power Programme” may be just for you!

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During this free programme you can expect:

• Three residential training weekends to develop skills in community organising and campaign planning
• Coaching and ongoing support from Tripod to develop and implement your campaign plan
• Mentoring from experienced campaigners
• A small grant to kickstart or grow your campaign
• Access to a community of organisers who you can share skills with
• To strengthen the movement against racism, xenophobia and the erosion of migrants’ rights in Scotland.

“Organising for Power” is a comprehensive programme which aims to strengthen movements against racism and xenophobia and for migrants’ rights in Scotland. Organising and campaigning for racial justice and for migrants rights can be very daunting with the number of challenges groups in these movements face. After listening to grassroots organisers and collectives like you, we understand the various vicious cycles that keep groups from strengthening their organisations and voice – for example, precarious circumstances surrounding organisers’ lives mean it is hard to focus on strategic actions, a lack of rights, a lack of resources for organisations and a lack of knowledge about the legal system all burden organisers leading to fear, burn-out and hurt. We have also seen over several years of supporting such groups, that group process and decision making and campaign planning are often challenging.

Through Organising for Power we want to support you and your groups to work through some of these challenges, to share what works well, and to learn together. This programme will support you to develop your skills as organisers, to support your groups to grow, to increase participation, and to share responsibilities. Organising for Power will support you to develop campaign plans you can actually implement back with your own groups. We will support you to strategise and plan campaigns which have an impact, shift power relations and dismantle oppressive systems.

This will mainly be done through three high quality residential training weekends that will include modules on a variety of topics (see below) prioritised by groups we have met and listened to. In addition, the programme will include coaching with Tripod staff members, mentoring with other experienced campaigners and peer-to-peer support for campaign implementation, so that you can review your impact and make changes to your campaign plans accordingly. This will  make the programme a living process, adaptive to the contexts you work in for maximum impact. We also envision creating a community of practice among organisers working in this area, where you can share experiences and skills and potentially collaborate with one another in future endeavours.

DATES AND VENUE

Three residential training weekends:

1. 28 June to 30 July 2018 (Friday 5:00 pm to Sunday 4:00 pm), Fife
2. 10 to 12 August 2018 (Friday 5:00 pm to Sunday 4:00 pm), Fife
3. 14 to 16 September 2018 (Friday 5:00 pm to Sunday 4:00 pm), TBA

Continued mentoring, coaching and follow-up support

From September 2018 to March 2019, roughly around once a month of either face to face meetings, phone calls or on-line interaction.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

Through Organising for Power you will not only learn basic organising skills but also other relevant knowledge and skills necessary for you to effectively tackle racism and xenophobia and fight for refugee/migrants’ rights. The following topics will be covered:

1. Introduction to community organising including:

• Exploring community organising – key concepts and case studies
• Skills and tools for improving organisational processes including facilitation of decision-making and effective workload distribution.
• Group building and developing sustainable group cultures which support active involvement from community members.
• Skills for facilitating one-to-ones and supporting others to take a more active role in your organisations and campaigns.

2. Campaign Strategy training including:

• Understanding power and how to effectively shift the balance of power in your favour.
• Components of an effective campaign plan including choosing issues, defining aims, matching resources and skills within the group to tasks, identifying allies and building relationships, choosing targets and tactics, creating timelines, reviewing and adapting for increased impact.
• Telling real migration stories
• Communicating your campaign effectively through the media

3. Base skills and knowledge to support more effective campaigning and organisational work including:

• Supporting disempowered groups and people in crisis.
• Legal literacy and understanding of rights as refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.
• How to access and apply for funding for campaign groups.
• How to ensure personal and organisational sustainability, considering wellbeing and burnout.

OUR APPROACH

You won’t find us simply standing at the front of a training, telling you how to do things or what the answers are for we believe in experiential education and know that learning by doing has a strong, long-lasting impact. We centre what people know best: themselves and their own experiences. Organising for Power will include a diverse mix of activities, balancing heart (emotions and intuition), hands (practical experiences) and head (theory and analytical thinking). We will create spaces for you to develop your social change work and learn from each other. Organising for Power is designed to help maximize your learning experience which will empower you to find solutions that will work for you in your specific contexts.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

This programme is open to:

• Organisers or campaigners tackling the root causes of xenophobia and racism and promoting the rights of refugees and other migrants in Scotland.

• Anyone involved with any groups fighting for these issues, who would like to learn how to organise their communities and/or campaign for systemic change.

This programme is free to participate but with very limited space. We will be prioritising organisers with lived experience of racism, xenophobia and immigration. As this programme will be run from June 2018 to March 2019, participants will need to commit to participate in the activities during the whole period. Creche services will be available at the residential trainings for those with children, just let us know in advance.

TO APPLY

We would encourage 2-3 people from one organisation or group to come, but you would need to apply individually to be considered. To apply please fill out the application form here by 27 May 2018 or contact o4p@tripodtraining.org with any questions.