The most effective change is always brought about by groups of committed and organised individuals. When Cambridge University Student Union held a referendum of its members on affiliation to the National Abortion Campaign (NAC), the pro-life group persuaded 65% of the students to vote NO.

Some suggestions on how you form a successful pro-life group in your school or university:

GETTING STARTED

Find friends willing to start with you - working together will help you become more focused, think strategically, and provide you with a more powerful voice.

Always begin with the aim of delegating to others or else you may take on too much work.

IN THE BEGINNING

Find out what the rules for setting up a society in your university are and keep them. You may need a constitution and to elect certain named officers, e.g. president, secretary and treasurer. If you don't have to give people official titles you might want to do without. Officers and elections can either be a help or a hindrance; you need to decide what works best in your situation. Note that you may be able to obtain a grant from the university or Student's Union once you have become an official society.

ALL THE FUN OF THE FRESHER'S FAIR

One of the most important things to keep in mind when setting up a pro-life group is how to obtain new members - usually this happens at the beginning of the year at Freshers' fairs. Have a sign up sheet ready to take down names, email addresses, length of study and any other details that would be helpful. This would also be a good opportunity to provide information about other local pro-life organisations.

Freshers' fairs often run all day for several days so organise shifts at the stall. Above all, smile and be welcoming.

RECRUITMENT

It is much harder to get new members outside of Fresher's Fair. Organise speaker meetings and make them open to all, not just members. Use word of mouth at least as much as posters. The most persuasive advertisement is another human being.

Also get in touch with other societies which are normally supportive of pro-life beliefs (e.g. religious societies). If most of your members are from religious groups then make it clear that the pro-life society is secular in order to attract as many as possible to our cause.

BEING ACTIVE IN YOUR UNIVERSITY OR SCHOOL

Think about campaigning on issues that are relevant to students at your school or university. Find out what kind of care is offered to women who are pregnant. Is it adequate? Do those responsible for welfare just automatically refer pregnant students for abortion? If so, get such bad practice changed. Is the student union donating money to pro-abortion pressure groups such as the Nation Abortion Campaign (NAC)? If so, it's your money. Don't let the student union waste funds that could be better spent providing improved services to students. Such funding is also illegal.

Also make certain you know where the local LIFE or CARE centre is (see Need help? section of website) so that you can refer women who need help there.

WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?

Apart from such campaigns there are a number of other things you can do:

• Write articles for student newspapers
• Organise debates
• Organise poster campaigns
• Organise protests
• Lobby academics in your university who work for abortion organisations (e.g. Ellie Lee at Southampton University who works for the pro-choice forum).
• And so on

Remember when you are organising a campaign to assess how effective it is. There’s little use in spending a lot of time and money in poster or leafleting campaigns when a protest may be more influential, cheaper and more likely to get press attention.

Campaigns also ought to be as fun and pro-active as possible so as to ensure members don’t get bored and to attract other students to your cause.

FUNDING

You will need to think about financial support, although it is amazing how much can be done with a little money and a lot of conviction. You may require money for things like travel expenses for speakers, posters, leaflets, envelopes, and stamps. Possible ways of obtaining funds are grants from the university or student's union, having a small membership fee, fund-raising events, letter writing, standing orders from past members who are now in paid employment.

You should keep a record of everything your society has attained (either in a scrapbook or in a computer file) to show potential donors so they know their donation will be worthwhile. Similarly, when contacting potential donors create the impression that your society has & will achieve a lot - to convince the donor their money will be well spent.

Under special circumstances Student LifeNet would be prepared to assist with funding (e.g. if you require extra finance to organise a big demonstration).

RUNNING THE GROUP

Try to meet at least once every two weeks to encourage activity. Meetings ought not to be too long since those less committed may be deterred from attending – particularly if they have a lot of work to do. An hour is a suitable length.

You may want to have 2 types of meetings. An executive meeting (just for officers to discuss finance, direction of group etc) and a general meeting (open to everyone).

With either type of meeting you should have as much two-way communication as possible to give others the chance to contribute and be ‘a part’ of the team. There should always be opportunities for people to get to know one another as well.

Make sure you also have a rough agenda which is kept to so no-one goes off on a tangent (meaning it takes twice as long to achieve what you want from the meeting).

Minutes should be kept in case you need to check what was discussed at the previous meeting and what decisions were made et cetera. It’s additionally worth noting those who attend regularly so that you can gauge who are active.

You may wish to construct a flexible calendar of events so that members know in advance when the next meeting/talk/protest is – encouraging maximum turnout and commitment.

WHO YOU SHOULD BE INFLUENCING

One of the main purposes for setting up a pro-life society is to influence others. However, because time and energy is limited you should be focusing on those who are likely to hold positions of power in the future.

That means politicians, those involved in law, medics, journalists et cetera. The leaders of the local Labour students or Conservative future branch are far more likely to be in a position of authority than other students.

KEEPING IN TOUCH

It obviously helps to keep in touch with those who are members of your society. An e-mail mailing list is useful. We recommend using the below FREE mailing lists which can be found on the internet:

• Yahoo! Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com). Allows the moderator to have complete control over the group which can be private to stop others infiltrating. Files can also be uploaded. The moderator requires a free Yahoo! ID but others do not.
• MSN groups (http://groups.msn.com/). Similar to Yahoo! Groups but a little less user friendly but more options available.
• Alternatively some universities provide free mailing list services.

Remember while its good to keep members informed – don’t bombard them with messages! Keep communication short and use descriptive subject tags.

PASSING THE BATON ON

Student societies are like relay races – in order to keep them alive you have to make sure you pass the baton on successfully from one person to the next. Otherwise you will lose the race (or die out).

For this reason make sure that all officers of the society keep ordered records of what you do, donors, members, where you got leaflets printed, financial accounts et cetera. This makes it easier to pass information on. When someone new takes over they shouldn’t need to start from the beginning again.

Also, it sounds obvious, but don’t just dump everything on the new leader/treasurer/publicity officer etc and then wave goodbye. It’s good to have a transition period when you’re showing the new person the ropes. That ensures they know what they’re doing and what needs to be done.

This will guarantee your society lasts and that the subsequent generation don’t have to waste time starting from scratch.

ADVICE FROM OTHERS

• “For every time you react to something, make sure you create at least two opportunities. That way you’ll stay ahead of the opposition,” Patrick Leahy, director Student LifeNet.
• "Have an email mailing list - we found it the most efficient way of keeping members informed." Cambridge University pro-life society
• "Make sure your group is cohesive and agrees on the main focus - don't let people speak on behalf of your group without prior agreement" Sarah Macken, ex-director Student LifeNet.
• "Be organised" Oxford University Prolife Society.
• "If campaigning against an opposition group, always be the first to lead with ideas - be creative in your methods" Cambridge University, pro-life Society.