For those that follow the TRF on Facebook this will be old news. For those who don't, you might be interested in this bit of TRF good news this week...
What's the background?There has been a movement initiated to create an 'Outdoor Recreation' Minister in Parliament. Their job would be to represent all outdoor recreation groups and influence government on their behalf (ramblers, hikers, runners, mountain bikers, horses etc). It will be an important and influential role.
A debate was scheduled in Westminster for this Wednesday where MPs would discuss the need for this role. The debate will play a part in whether the idea becomes a reality.
How did the TRF get involved?The TRF were aware that this debate was coming up. We put a plan in place to try and be part of the debate. Mario pulled a team together to get the ball rolling. Richard Simpson wrote a press release which was sent to the media. I created a post and film on Facebook. Mario put the word out to our newsletter subscribers and Twitter.
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Economic Value FB 01.jpg [ 185.52 KiB | Viewed 6599 times ]
What happened?TRF member Rob Powell received the newsletter and sent an email to his MP. She picked it up and spoke up on behalf of all trail riders in the debate
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Economic Value FB 02.jpg [ 193.18 KiB | Viewed 6599 times ]
Want the full picture?Take a look at the TRF Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/TrailRidersFellowship/Why was this important?This debate and subsequent potential appointment of an Outdoor Recreation Minister will have a big impact on all outdoor user groups. If we had not instigated this mini-campaign, and had Rob Powell not contacted his local MP the debate would have had voices from all other groups including ramblers and no one would have spoken up on behalf of trail riders. This is democracy in action and the TRF are in a small way influencing the debate. This is exactly what the organisation should be doing.
Richard did a great job in putting the press release together in a short time frame. I am proud that the Facebook post and film has become the most shared and viewed media in TRF history - it was shared over 1000 times and reached over 110,000 people (that's a lot for Facebook). That statistic alone shows how many people care about this. Mario did a great job in seeing the opportunity and making it all happen. Rob took the initiative and contacted his MP with the best possible result. An all together good job by all involved and an example of what can be done with the right energy in a very tight time frame.
: )