Students take action with People & Planet

York university student Helen Jones shares her experiences of being involved with student action group People & Planet.

People & Planet campaigners marching in London. Campaigning for Fairtrade at Reading university. People & Planet summer gathering.

Although you might not have heard of it before - People & Planet is the largest student campaigning organisation in the country - campaigning to alleviate world poverty, defend human rights and protect the environment. The network comprises of university and sixth form groups as well as individual campaigners.

Its national campaigns currently include climate change, HIV/AIDS treatment and Fairtrade. There is also an ethical investment campaign, which focuses on universities, investments in unethical businesses, such as arms companies. Groups also run their own campaigns, for example at York uni we've been running a campaign to ensure that our student union's merchandise is ethically sourced. It's taken a lot of hard work but we finally succeeded earlier this year.

Getting involved in campaigning is a great way to feel like you're doing something useful with your time and People & Planet is a fantastic opportunity to work with a campaigning organisation. Democracy is vitally important within the network and you really do have a say on how it is run and what it does.

Being involved in People & Planet provides exciting opportunities to make a difference and develop campaigning skills. The chances I've had as a result of People & Planet have helped me gain confidence and knowledge, as well as helping to form my views on a wide range of issues, not just those which the organisation campaigns on directly.

It’s also a great way to meet other likeminded people, not just at your uni or sixth form, but nationally as well. There are three main national events; Shared Planet (conference), the Forum (main decision making event) and the Summer Gathering (a training event).

If you're at all interested in what People & Planet does or in campaigning in general I would definitely advise going to Shared Planet (17 - 18 November, Sheffield). This year is the 10th anniversary and if previous years are anything to go by it will be completely inspiring. Lat year it was held in London and coincided with the climate change march. Part of the weekend was set aside to join other students in the carnival of climate chaos and there was a good range of speakers and some fantastic workshops which left everyone feeling really empowered and ready to take action. For me Shared Planet is the best event of the year, I've been to the last two and am really excited about this year’s.