I am unilaterally declaring this day Celebrate your Lib Dem Organiser Day. It’s 6 days out, most will be surviving on energy drinks and riso ink fumes and there’s still a big push to come.
Not only will they be sorting out the canvassing packs and delivery runs for the weekend, they will be organising polling day, making sure all the committee rooms are well equipped, that there are enough people around to get all the jobs done. Making sure our voters get to the polls is absolutely critical over the next few days. If you haven’t already arranged to do so, make an organiser’s life easier by helping out in one of our target seats so that we can make absolutely sure that we can say at 10pm on Thursday night that we couldn’t possibly have done any more.
Our organisers have been laying the foundation for this campaign for a very long time. It’s not been 38 days at full pelt, it’s been more like 450. They’ve been building the team, recruiting members, leading the door-knocking, keeping the candidates sane, organising the stake boards, designing the literature, meeting all sorts of unreasonable deadlines which require pulling all-nighters. There is a weird law of nature that stipulates that the bigger the delivery that arrives at the office, the fewer people are there to receive it, so when 40,000 tabloids arrive, they often have to lug them all into the office by themselves. And not all offices are on the ground floor. They have eaten, slept, breathed this election with little time for anything else like having a life.
This bank holiday weekend, take a moment to seek out an organiser and tell them how much you appreciate them. And give them chocolate. Or alcohol. Or anything else you know that they like. We ask unreasonable things of these people and they always over-deliver. Let them feel the gratitude of the whole party to sustain them. Whatever happens next week, they can be utterly proud of themselves and we should be utterly proud of them.
In the comments, please show your appreciation for your organiser that you know and tell us why they are so special. From the tip of Shetland to Lands End itself, these people are the backbone of our ground war and they are brilliant. And if that sounds over the top, it’s actually not.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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4 Comments
I don’t know any organisers, but the people who put the real work in should always be rewarded. Thanks.
OK, well can I just put a word in for the team in Hornsey and Wood Green, who are all brilliant. Sam is incredibly dedicated, and has put in some extraordinary hours (and that’s only in the limited times that I’ve been around, but presumably it’s the same the rest of the time too!). Derin is fantastic too, always enthusiastic and professional with volunteers. In fact, the whole H&WG office are pretty great!
Caron,
I agree 100% that we should celebrate the loyal bands of volunteers who are the backbone, heart, brain and other vital organs of The Liberal Democrats.
The are also the people who will generally carry on working long after 8th May picking up the pieces and rebuilding the party. They are the party!
As someone who used to work as one, I give a full hearted thanks to all those currently doing nothing but think about leaflets, maps and getting people out of the office and onto the streets with a day’s worth of delivery.
Arrived at a busy local HQ this afternoon – within in moments I had plenty to do and so did plenty of others. My legs and back ache but I’m ready for more tomorrow!