Protest, but do it well

[nightshade]

I have mentioned this elsewhere
If you organise a petition it may have a thousand signatures but can only count
as ONE letter!!
So a thousand individual letters count as a thousand letters, much more effective

[goosey]

Is that true? I never knew that.

[nightshade]

We collected a number of signatures for a crossing on a busy road
to help three schools
On enquiry we were told only one letter had been recieved.We never got
the crossing just a bollarded refuge (the local rich village has two crossings
and a speed camera on the same road within 50mtrs of each other )

[honeybee]

That's really interesting because I was going to arrange a petition about a local parking problem. However that follows our letters being ignored so i thought if they knew how many people were miffed they might do something.
What about big petitions from organisations?

[thunder]

I believe it also helps if you write personal letters, rather than fill in a pre-printed postcard, or copy a form letter.

One letter is a crank.
Two letters are a crank and partner.
Six letters means the addressee has to start doing a lot of reading and at least think about the situation. And individual letters should be replied to - nobody is going to go through all the names on a petition and reply to them all, even supposing the addresses are included as well.

henrya

[Kymba]

They only problem with this is actually getting all the people who would sign a petiton to actually sit down and write a letter instead... they might say they will but the Majority wouldn't actually do it.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Kymba

They only problem with this is actually getting all the people who would sign a petiton to actually sit down and write a letter instead... they might say they will but the Majority wouldn't actually do it.

That then filters out the number of people who are actually really concerned though, petitions are often full of the names of people who don't even properly understand the situation when quizzed, they sign because it seems like the right thing to do at the time.

Numerous letters will always make people sit up and listen, particularly if articulate and well written.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

That then filters out the number of people who are actually really concerned though, petitions are often full of the names of people who don't even properly understand the situation when quizzed, they sign because it seems like the right thing to do at the time.

Numerous letters will always make people sit up and listen, particularly if articulate and well written.

kind of agree with you both there (Gill and Kymba), suppose it depends on the sort of subject... amazing who angry people can be about something but don't actually do anything about it, they just moan for years. I'm always writing letters and bugging people and sometimes you do get a result. And a letter is definitely better than a phonecall, someone has to sit down and respond properly and then you have proof of what they've said.

[Fourwings]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

Numerous letters will always make people sit up and listen, particularly if articulate and well written.

I couldn't agree more Gill, a well written letter showing the true feelings of the individual concerned is always going to carry far more weight than signing a pre-printed mass letter, it shows genuine commitment to the cause concerned rather than someone just "jumping on the bandwagon".

[Gill Catton]

Its also very easy to casually add your name to a petition then get home think about it a bit, do a bit of reading and find that actually you don't agree with the petition at all!! I've done it myself

[martin s]

I work on the basis that most people are lazy and will not write letters. At least with a petition you know how many people have signed. Like others have said, it all depends on the issue and how much it impacts on your life.