Consultation: | Young Greens AGM 2021 |
---|---|
Agenda item: | E.1.6 Campaigns Officer (x1) |
Proposer: | Zac (Crawley, Mid-Sussex & Horsham) |
Status: | Submitted |
Submitted: | 06/18/2021, 22:30 |
CA4: Zac Larkham
Which role are you applying for?
- Which role are you applying for?:
- Campaigns Officer
Candidate Statement
Hi, I’m Zac and I’m standing to be the new Young Greens Campaigns Officer.
Over the past 6 months I’ve been leading student activism at Sheffield Hallam University. I started the rent strike at Sheffield Hallam and we joined over 50 U.K. universities to demand our landlords give us our stolen rent back. I’ve worked with activists across the country to organise occupations and collaborate through the Rent Strike Now network. I was also a core link to the rent strike movement for the Young Greens and spoke at our ‘Students are not cash cows’ online event (we even got Majid Majid to buy our occupiers pizza!).
Without the grassroots campaign I helped lead at Sheffield Hallam we would not have been able to expose the sexual harassment and assault that is endemic at our university and thousands of Hallam students wouldn’t have gotten an estimated £4mil of rent money back. But I’ve also been involved with activism and campaigns outside of university:
· I was one of the founding members of the Mid-Sussex, Crawley & Horsham Young Greens and I ran the social media campaign for the Crawley Greens in the 2019 General Election- helping us get our best ever result
· I have organised Deliveroo workers with the IWGB Union and have helped with some organisation of Kill the Bill protests in Sheffield
After the party’s best ever local election results and a pandemic that has further widened the gaps between young people and older generations, the Young Greens are in a strong position to push for the change we want to see in this country. Young people can deliver transformative change, but only when we get involved with these movements.
Running bold, ambitious campaigns that want to transform the status quo is where I think we should start. When I am elected, together we will:
· Start a national campaign to stop collaboration between universities and the fossil fuel industry- many of our universities invest or partner with fossil fuel companies and are complicit in climate breakdown. We need a national campaign led by students to stop this and make our universities behave responsibly.
· Expand the Young Green’s ‘get organised’ campaign to include tenants union membership- The young greens already have a campaign to encourage trade union membership. the spaces young people occupy are opportunities to organise for change and housing is a great opportunity to get involved with activism and community organising. I want to encourage Young Greens not only to join tenants unions but to be active members in their tenant and trade unions. Organising at work and with other tenants enables you to stand up for yourself, builds solidarity with activists in your local community and can give new activists the essential skills and confidence to equip them to take part in future campaigns such as elections.
· Work with green students and student activist groups to organise at universities and fight for a higher education system we want- The student activist scene is currently fragmented into lots of small campaigns and organisations. I’ve been working with lots of these groups from across the country over the past year to fight for a higher education system that works for students and staff- I will continue to make sure there is a green voice heard amongst national student organisations and their activists.
· Start an annual SU campaigns workshop- Students’ Unions are a key part of university life, it’s also where young people can really make change in their community but a Students’ Union is only as good as its officers. We should ensure there are good officers in SUs that are prepared to take bold action and stand up against universities and encourage Young Greens. This year the young greens supported a small group of candidates, including myself, who wanted to be elected as SU officers and this great work should be supported and continued in future years.
Links
- Facebook:
- Zac Larkham
- Twitter:
- @zlarkham14
- Instagram:
- @zac_larkham
Supporters (minimum 2 required)
- Supporter 1 Name:
- Richard Kail
- Supporter 1 Local Party/Affiliated Group:
- Mid-Sussex, Crawley & Horsham
- Supporter 2 Name:
- Matthew Brewin
- Supporter 2 Local Party/Affiliated Group:
- Mid-Sussex, Crawley & Horsham
Consent to form data being shared (except email and mobile)
- Do you consent to the contents of this nomination form being made publicly available (this does not include email address or phone number):
- yes
- Local Party:
- Sheffield/Mid-Sussex, Crawley & Horsham