The last two Sundays I have been helping with our campaign in Stoke-on-Trent by delivering leaflets. The first visit I set off on a blustery, drizzly day with an armful of slippery leaflets. Within five minutes the leaflets had cascaded to the ground buffeted by the strong  gusts of wind. I suppose this is one way of distributing leaflets!

Helped by my leafleting companion we managed to retrieve most of the leaflets which now formed a rather soggy jumbled pile. I went on to deliver them but this having happened didn’t help the process especially with awkward letterboxes. Being a person who believes in learning from our mistakes, and who in general takes a problem solving approach to life, my next visit I equipped myself with a suitable delivery bag and an extra long spatula.

The bag is most importantly waterproof, has an adjustable strong cross-chest strap, good capacity for all batches of leaflets, a secure zipped compartment for your valuables and is in Liberal Democrat colours. In using the spatula I wrapped the leaflet around the flat end and delivered it though the letterbox. It was particularly helpful when the letterbox has bristles and it also prevents the leaflet becoming crumpled. This spatula is a couple of inches longer than a regular cooking spatula so you are unlikely to lose it through the letterbox. Using this equipment made an enormous difference to the speed at which I delivered the leaflets, about three times faster, and because I was physically comfortable and the process was efficient it was much more enjoyable.

If you think you would like to equip yourself in this way details of where you can buy this bag and spatula are below.

Gold/Black delivery bag  

Features: capacity for all batches of our leaflets, waterproof,  strong adjustable cross-chest strap, secure zipped compartment for your valuables, phone, keys etc., Liberal Democrat colours,

You can buy this from Amazon for £9.99

Bagbase Funky Retro Messenger Bag, Gold/Black

Spatula for delivering the leaflets

Just wrap the leaflet around the end of the spatula and deliver though the letterbox, particularly helpful when the letterbox has bristles and prevents the leaflet becoming crumpled.

This particular spatula is a couple of inches longer than standard cooking spatulas and so reduces the chance of losing it through the letter box!

It comes with quite an attractive ladle which hopefully you would find useful.

You can buy the spatula and ladle set from Amazon  £10.49

Garcoo Wooden multi-purpose spatula and ladle set in Beech

* Jane Reed is a Liberal Democrat member and activist in York