How to welcome more women into your campaign group

Campaigners and campaign groups are crucial to effecting change, especially at a local level where they know what the barriers to cycling are.

Having a campaign group that reflects your local community in terms of diversity of membership is a great way of ensuring that the campaigns you run are ones that will most benefit the area, and issues that people (and politicians) are more likely to support.

The fact that we have fewer female than male campaigners probably partly reflects that fewer women than men currently cycle. We tend to campaign for things we are actively involved in, and this is important because if women’s voices aren’t listened to, then we don’t get solutions to the specific barriers women face.

Cycling is part of the solution to many of the challenges we face as a society. If we think more broadly, we might be able to support people who wouldn’t necessarily see themselves as cycle campaigners to speak up for cycling.

There are many ways to campaign for cycling, but one of the best is to get together with others to form a group. There are so many benefits: feeling you are part of something bigger, having others to help think up creative campaigns, and not feeling alone in what can often feel like an uphill battle.

Things you can do

If you are part of a campaign group that is looking to get more female members it might be worth considering some of the following:

Recognise that it can be difficult to join a group where you don’t know anyone and can’t see anyone that you can easily relate to

• Advertise your group and what you’re about in a variety of places – both physical and online so that you can reach people outside your ‘bubble’.
• Offer one-to-one informal introductory meetings – get together in a café so new potential members don’t have to walk into a room full of strangers and have some idea what to expect when they get there.
• Highlight the work being done by women in your group in your social media/publicity.
• Bring a friend – you could encourage existing members to bring along a female friend to a meeting.

Think about the time of meetings

• While there is no ideal time for a meeting, with people all having different commitments, it might be worth considering whether it’s worth trying different times. You could try running occasional weekend or lunchtime meetings.

And the location

• If you meet in person, consider if there anything about the venue or its location that could make it less inviting for women.  Is it isolated, for example? Or is there a well-lit route to get there?
• Think about holding your meetings in different venues sometimes – is there somewhere women often get together that you could look to hold a meeting in?

Meeting structure and content

• There is no right or wrong way to hold a meeting, but it might be worth considering if an overly formal structure will feel off-putting to newcomers and make them feel unwilling or unable to participate and so not return.
• Reflect on who talks most in the meetings and ask yourselves if there is enough listening. Think about ways in which you can ensure everyone has the opportunity to contribute – breaking into smaller groups might work for some aspects of meetings.
• Invite guest speakers who might appeal to a wider audience. There are women doing inspirational things everywhere and it doesn’t necessarily have to be cycling: consider related issues such as community building, or with a message that is translatable to cycle campaigning even if it’s not their main focus (for example Mums for Lungs).
• Invite women who are championing cycling who don’t necessarily see themselves as campaigners – giving up the car and buying an e-cargo bike to cycle kids to school, everyday commuters who inspire their male weekend racing colleagues to also cycle to work, Breeze ride leaders who lead female-only rides.

Make it purposeful

• Conversely, too informal a meeting may lead people to feel that it’s not a worthwhile use of their time if they can’t see what it achieves.
• Play to people’s strengths and consider campaigns relevant to women’s lives – you could think about doing some local research, focus groups, polls and other engagement to find out of there are any particular issues.
• If there’s an appetite to do a particular thing then go with it. There may be a particular path with barriers or a junction that is tricky to cross.
• Research shows that women do more ‘trip-chaining’ so ensure that campaigning doesn’t just focus on ‘A to B’ commuter routes but also looks at the wider network that’s needed to enable more women to cycle.
• Small wins can have a big impact – changing the timings on a controlled crossing, bike parking outside a surgery and well-positioned planters are just some examples of local campaign group wins that can be achieved through short-term focused work.
• Collaborate on developing a clear campaign plan so that everyone feels part of it.

Talk to other groups who have more female campaigners to see if they do anything differently

• One way is to join our upcoming online discussion session about creating a campaign group that reflects your community on Thursday 19 March.
• Use the Cycle Advocacy Network map to find other groups you could contact.

Hold a women-focused event

• Women-only events are popular and might be a good way to attract new female members.
• Giving space to women to talk together about their experiences and to express themselves freely without fear of judgment can lead to great things!
• Organise a women’s ride. Maybe link up with your local Breeze ride leaders – their women’s rides could be a good opportunity for recruiting new campaigners.