My work blends conventional campaign methods (strategy, message, media, advocacy, research) with grassroots community organising and mobilisation.
Below are some examples of my work.
We’re Right Here
Nine national organisations, eight community leaders and hundreds of others around the country have come together to campaign for a major new law to change where power lies, so that local people can shape the places where they live. I co-founded and lead the campaign.
Rebuild General Practice
General practice is in crisis, and patient safety is at risk. That’s why the BMA, the GPDF and GPs from around the country have come together with patients to Rebuild General Practice. I’m working with the brilliant BB Partners to co-ordinate the campaign. My focus is on working with GPs around the country to take part in the campaign and make the change they need for themselves.
National Food Strategy
I worked with Henry Dimbleby and his team to help land this government-commissioned review of the whole food system so it could have maximum impact. That meant co-ordinating with senior stakeholders from across the system – supermarkets, farmers, policymakers, politicians, academics and journalists – to demonstrate the breadth of support for the Strategy’s recommendations. The launch in July 2021 led news bulletins and achieved several national newspaper front pages.
Guardians of the Arches
This inspiring collective of small business owners based in railway arches formed in 2018 to protect their interests during the sale of the Network Rail commercial estate. Guardians of the Arches is now an established tenants’ association actively shaping the management of a £1.6bn commercial estate. I helped bring the group together, working on strategy, message development, media engagement, advocacy and lobbying as well as supporting community organising efforts. We achieved widespread media coverage and influence, and the campaign won the David and Goliath award at the Sheila McKechnie Foundation 2018 National Campaigner Awards.End Legal Loan Sharking
I helped to co-ordinate the successful national campaign to cap the cost of credit charged by payday and doorstep lenders. I worked with grassroots community debtor groups, national charities and campaigns, national media (including a fruitful partnership with the Mirror) and senior government ministers and politicians across Parliament to win the change which vulnerable debtors so desperately needed.More in Common
I work with the UK team of this global effort to tackle polarisation. I co-authored the landmark report Britain’s Choice and helped with media and communications around its launch.Take Back the High Street
Working with the charitable foundation Power to Change, I ran a UK-wide grassroots-led campaign to give communities more influence over the future of the high street.Activism at a major global retailer
As part of a new purpose-driven leadership programme, I advised the company from C-suite down on how to stake their place as global leaders in corporate activism. I ran workshops for senior management as well as the company’s 3,000 store managers worldwide to instil a global commitment to grassroots-led campaigning.Grassroots support for new development
I helped the developer of a new Garden Village to engage authentically with local communities. We formed networks of support for its exciting plans to build a beautiful place, including high-quality affordable housing where it is most needed.
Communities in Charge
I worked with the membership body Locality, in partnership with several other charities and foundations, on a grassroots-led campaign to shape the UK government’s proposed “Shared Prosperity Fund” so that communities are put directly in charge of it.Grassroots strategy for a transport agency
I advised a major regional transport agency on its strategy to engage with grassroots interests around long-term infrastructure projects, including community-led engagement events and bottom-up mobilising around specific projects.
Contact: will@willbrett.info
@williamdbrett