How to make the perfect cuppa to fight poverty

Just like making that perfect cup of tea, a successful campaign requires time, skill and dedication.

The Tea time for change training day was the perfect opportunity to learn how to make the biggest impact when hundreds of campaigners travel to Westminster on the 9 June for tea with their representatives.

So, in tea terms, this is how the Tea time for change training day helped us take that first step towards Parliament (and to making that perfect cuppa):

1) Grab your mug

You can’t have a cup of tea without crockery, and you can’t have a campaign without campaigners.

But bright and early on Saturday morning there was no shortage of supporters at Save the Children head office in London. In fact the lobby was buzzing with people eager to make a stand against global poverty.

2) Choose your tea bag

Just like the tea bag is the foundation of the perfect cuppa, it is the issues themselves which are the key ingredient to a campaign.

With Teatime for Change these issues are big issues. These problems and injustices are what all this tea-talk is for: the fact that tax dodging means the worlds poorest communities loose more than one and a half times what they receive in aid, and the fact a financial transactions tax could raise billions of dollars every year to help fight global poverty.

3) Add hot water

It is essential to add freshly boiled water to your teabag to release all those tea flavours.

The training day definitely provided some hot water; sparking the realisation of the need to take action!

The day was jam packed full of information and talks helping us to learn as much as we could about the issues at the heart of the campaign and why it was so important to call for change.

4) Leave it to brew

If you ask any tea-making expert they will always tell you that brewing time is vital.

At the training day there was lots of time to brew over these issues and discuss them with other campaigners.

Throughout the day we were able to really get to grips with the issues, through workshops and discussions, so that when we meet with our MPs, we’ll have all the answers!

5) Pour in a dash of milk

In order to achieve the perfect cup of tea you need to add some milk.

In order to successfully lobby our MPs, as well as understanding the issues we are campaigning about, we need to have effective lobbying skills.

So on Saturday, we got top tips for a successful lobby, such as; find out a bit about your MP before the day, be confident (MPs are normal people just like us) and ask for updates to make sure that they take action!

6) Sugar

Sometimes a little bit of sugar is needed to achieve that perfect cuppa.

At the end of the training day we were given the chance to perfect our lobbying skills by taking part in a practice lobby. This gave us the chance to put our skills and knowledge into action so that on June 9 we’ll be ready to persuade our MPs to commit to fighting poverty.

So, now we are ready for the big day, ready to tell our MPs that it’s time for change!

However, sharing a cup of tea is always better the more people you have to share it with. If you haven’t yet signed up to come to Westminster it’s not too late.

Sign up here and come and join us on the 9th June. Because after all, where there is tea, there is hope!