Writing a letter can be a great way to advocate for change within your community – and beyond!
What issues are you passionate about? Gender equality, mental health, protecting endangered species? If you’ve been wondering what you can do to help, you could take a leaf out of Charlie and Eadie’s book and write a letter to a politician. These two self-described ‘small town girls’ have started a project called the Climate Letter Project and inspired many other young students to get involved.
During the 2020 lockdown, Charlie and Eadie started to become more interested in the issue of climate change. They became more environmentally conscious in their everyday lives – for example, taking shorter showers and taking less car rides – and sent some letters outlining their concerns to the former Prime Minister.
After receiving disappointing responses, they knew they had to go bigger. That is when the Climate Letter Project was born. They encouraged students at their school and beyond to join them in their letter writing, urging members of parliament to take more action on the issue. Now, hundreds of young people have sent their own letters, and Charlie and Eadie have spoken on panels, visited schools, and featured on their local radio station to spread their message.
“We’ve noticed that our project is changing the way young people think about their ability to participate in politics,” they tell Teen Breathe. “With education available for young students to learn about caring for the environment, we hope that we can inspire more to enter the wonderfully confusing, yet important, world of politics, inspiring change in the world around them.”
If you want to write your own letter, Charlie and Eadie have shared their top tips for writing a letter to a member of parliament about changes you’d like to see.
- Before you start writing your letter, it’s a good idea to do some research of your own about the issue you feel passionate about. Whether you’re writing about climate justice or gender equality, having an educated point of view will help you sound mature and persuasive while getting your message across.
- The second step before writing your letter would be to figure out what area of parliament you want it to reach. For example, a passionate message pushing renewable energy at a national level would need to be tackled in higher levels of government, while installing a local recycling depot would be an issue to bring to your local council.
- While writing your letter, never be afraid to be honest about how passionate you are. Showing politicians that an issue is particularly important to you is an excellent way to communicate your emotional connection to your views. It’s also super important to remember that politicians are also real people, with real emotions, just like you or me! So even if you’re not happy with the job they’re doing, communicating anger usually isn’t the way to go. Instead, coming up with an action plan or solutions for the issue is an effective way to get your message across.
- While you may feel that a million words wouldn’t summarise your passion on this issue, try to keep your letter brief. Politicians receive hundreds of letters every day, so make sure to include your key points and solutions without confusing what you have to say. If you feel action needs to be taken on multiple issues, try to keep them separate; if that’s not possible, you can also do separate paragraphs, or dot points!
- If writing to a member of the federal parliament leaves you without a response, or a disappointing one, don’t be disheartened! Contacting your local council members can help you secure more action within your community, and while action on a federal level may not be visible, every letter makes a difference!
You can find your local member’s postal address by searching your postcode here. You may want to get an adult to help you out.
