Keeping it all together

5 August 2010

Kate Hand

Kate took over as Coordinator of Hackney and Tower Hamlets Friends of the Earth in October 2009. She's pictured to the right flanked by group members Leanne and Nikki.

Why did you volunteer to be Coordinator?

Our old coordinator stepped down. I wanted to help the group become stronger and bigger and have a stable foundation to run great campaigns and to be more involved with local issues in Hackney.

How's it been so far?

Great - I really enjoy the role and I love being involved in everything the group's doing. I've definitely learnt some things about how to be a good coordinator. But I'm sure there's plenty more to learn.

Any particular highlights

We've got some new members which has been fantastic. I've enjoyed supporting group member Jo who's been leading on our work on the Get Serious About CO2 campaign.

It's also been good to look at new projects - like speaker events - in partnership with local organisations.

What do you do when you're not coordinating?

Outside the group I'm a Project Officer at the Community Development Foundation and I also sing whenever I get the chance.

What advice do you have for someone taking on the role?

You need to be prepared for it being a fair amount of work but also not to try and do everything yourself.

It's definitely worth having rotating who chairs meetings and it's good to have a range of ways for people to get involved.

Anything to avoid?

Oh yes... don't worry too much!

Robert Gray

Robert was elected Coordinator of the Brent Friends of the Earth at their annual AGM in March 2010. He's been a member of the group for 3 years.

How have you found it?

OK so far. It's sometimes hard getting people to meetings but it's been great to get a positive response from those that have come along.

Have you had other roles in the group?

Yes, as the group's Website Officer I developed a new website.

I was also Membership Secretary so I was able to give advice to the person who took over membership duties from me which helped.

It helped when I took over as Coordinator as it meant I knew the group well.

What's your plan?

I'd like to get the group involved in more practical projects locally alongside the more political national campaigns that we already engage in.

We want to keep up the good work on the Brent Cross Coalition, Fix the Food Chain campaign and the Age of Stupid film screenings. But we also want to work on more practical ways of getting people's attention.

One of our members, Elaine, came up with the idea of getting energy meters for local libraries that people could borrow and see how they can reduce their energy consumption - immediate, practical benefits.

What do you do outside the group?

I work as a speech therapist. I also enjoy gigging with my band - I play bass guitar and keyboard.

What's going on over the summer?

We are hoping to organise a picnic with an eco-theme to try and attract new members. We're also trying to organise a talk by someone in the renewable energy industry which we'll host with a local transition town group.

Get involved

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