At the Bird Fair, over 11,000 leaflets were taken away for delivery around the country (certainly England and Wales).
I’m grateful to those of you who will be walking the streets and delivering these leaflets over the next few weeks – thank you and every signature counts.
I met karl (sic) and Dave at the Bird Fair – two people to whom I had delivered leaflets a couple of weeks ago but had not met face to face. It’s always good to meet the supporters of the campaign – we are a pretty varied bunch, we really are. I would be amazed if there were many similarities between us other than a love of birds of prey, respect for the law and a wish for a better environmental future.
Thank you all.
I am not planning to get any more leaflets printed now that we have passed the 100,000 barrier – remaining resources will be directed at Firm Briefing.
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Whilst I accept the target has been achieved (hooray), we need more people to engage with the next phase (IMHO) so I’ve placed a sticker on them which says, “If you’ve already signed up then please pass to a friend. We would now ask you to contact your MP about the proposed debate in Parliament, and to help you with this see https://markavery.info/2016/08/17/writing-mp/ ”
I hoped it would encourage people to sign even though the target had been achieved and then take that next step. It’s all good publicity particularly as the leaflets have been printed.
116,820 and steadily accumulating thru today. 125k for Petitions Committee?
Countryside Alienate Protect Grouse Moors petition gone above 10k today, gaining c.70 signatures in the last hour. 🙁
I’m not stating any firm predictions at the moment just in case Mark is intending to have any more competitions!
I can’t believe how anyone can support a petition (protect grouse moors) when half of the information on it is incorrect and not even spelt right! From the info provided they have no case even if it gets to 100,000!
Hopefully their expert witnesses will be called to verify claims and they will be cross examined.
They bowl spin, so Howzat, catch ’em out easy!
As i’ve mentioned on another thread; while I certainly wouldn’t go as far as encouraging people to sign the ‘Protect grouse Moors…’ petition, a second Parliamentary debate on the future of driven grouse shooting may be no bad thing. For a first (‘our’) debate, we seem inevitably to be the underdogs in terms of established support amongst sitting MP’s. I doubt the number supporting driven grouse shooting will grow by any second petition, whereas the opportunities to increase our support – among those who haven’t previously given the issue much thought – seem very large indeed.
And one other thing; gaining an idea of the levels of support (or lack of it) for driven grouse shooting in specific localities is also something of a tactical asset for us. As things stand at the moment, it appears to be confirming some thoughts on where certain geographically limited initiatives may bear fruit in a much shorter term than that in which a nationwide ban is likely to come into force.
The leaflets have definitely helped, but I prefer handing them out to people. Putting leaflets through doors works too, but I think you get more bang for your buck if you can speak to people first. I find events are good for this, just wandering around and talking to stall holders can shift a surprising number of leaflets and the people tend to be the conscientious type if they are running a stall for a charity etc. One lady told me ‘my husband is in BASC, but he is a conservationist, I’ll pass this on to him..’ wonder how that went? Great that when you meet someone you can give them a leaflet rather than just scribble petition details on the back of an old train ticket or receipt. Fingers crossed there will still be a chance before the 20th of spending a day with a falconer and promoting the petition that way, leaflets will be a huge boon there. Afterwards, looking post petition, might be a good way to speak to the public generally about what the grouse moors are doing to the land, people and wildlife – falconry displays/exhibits are incredibly popular.