“The craziest thing that’s happened to me whilst campaigning? Having manure thrown at me by an angry landowner while I restaged The Great British Bake Off with [actress] Emma Thompson on a proposed fracking site.”
“The craziest thing that’s happened to me whilst campaigning? Having manure thrown at me by an angry landowner while I restaged The Great British Bake Off with [actress] Emma Thompson on a proposed fracking site.”Fifty-five-year-old activist Tina Rothery started out as an Occupy London protestor back in 2011, but her real entry into the scene came when fracking was proposed in her home county of Lancashire.
She’s been on the frontline of the UK’s anti-fracking movement for the last six years as a member of protest group The Nanas, a cohort of women who don yellow tabards and Hilda Ogden headscarves to physically say ‘no’ to companies who want to frack their towns – aware of the damage that the quest for shale gas could bring to their communities.
With political action dancing out of the fringe and into the mainstream (see HuffPost UK’s new docu-reality series, New Activists, and the unprecedented youth turnout at this year’s snap election – partially fueled by the Grime4Corbyn movement) she’s got the experience we all need to up our ‘getting stuff done’ game.
Tina’s fearless, passionate and has got no time for anyone’s shit. We asked her for the lessons she’s learned on the the ride.
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Asking the right questions is crucial.
“Until it came to my doorstep, I didn’t even notice that fracking took place. Why aren’t we kept abreast of it? Delve a little deeper than your local media, if needs be. Find out what’s going on in the world, and who is responsible for it.”
What activism can do for people lives is humbling.
“While I was campaigning against a fracking site in Balcombe, a homeless man approached us. Not because of the cause, but due to the warmth and the community that our cause creates. He found direction and a sense of worth from campaigning.
“On any given day, if it all went wrong tomorrow and we failed, and we ask ourselves what the hell we achieved, I would count the miracles that happened along the way, because that’s what nourishes you.”
And can involve bursting into song.
“Sometimes we all just burst into versions of Dancing Queen! It really helps keep your rage in check after looking at those drills everyday.”
There’s more space for activism in older people’s lives than the younger.
“Older people no longer have as much responsibility and are more available to participate. Young people are raising families. They have jobs and mortgages, so we can’t always expect them to be on the front line. We do it for them.”
By getting involved in campaigning, you “become your own cavalry”.
“There’s a lot of power to be found by just deciding to speak out. You can be your own anti-fracking front.”
Tina also recommends being resourceful when it comes to finding campaigners near you. Frack Off is a useful tool to use, as it maps local anti-fracking campaign groups for you.
“Lobby your MP. This is so important – this man or woman works or you. Go to their surgery, drive them crazy. If you don’t know much about fracking, good. Go and ask. It’s going to affect everything because the damage will go into our air and water, which knows no boundaries. Make them work for you.”
Finding common ground with your activism adversary is so important.
“When you start out campaigning, it feels like a dance back and forth with people that have a completely different mindset to yourself. Somehow, you have to find some way of taking that first step together, otherwise you can’t win each other over or get anywhere without it.
“I’ve talked about the [potential] risk of birth defects with fracking supporters who have had babies on the way. That got them worried.”
In the coming months, the anti-fracking campaign needs numbers. The more the merrier.
“We are pulled as a movement, both Yorkshire and Lancashire sites need our time. I will travel the country and speak to as many local groups and public meetings as possible. But a large presence at the gate is also needed.”
Being a campaigner is not a choice, it’s an obligation.
“Once you know about a risk like fracking, how do you walk away from it? It’s totally essential to let people now about these things. That’s what activism is. It’s an essential chore to the people you share the planet with.”
See also:
This Is Why Buying Stuff Will Never Make You Happy