It’s time to press pause on the challenges of the moment and reflect on the past year. Here’s what we can see from SMK.
Campaigners won’t be cowed. Despite some people urging you to keep your heads down, you’ve been doing anything but. In our Annual Survey, 30% of you said that high-profile attacks had made you more likely to speak out – not less.
And the public like it. The latest polling found that almost 1 in 2 people think charities need to take a political position on the cost-of-living crisis to make change happen. When we brought together people from business, politics, the media, and religion, their clear message was also that they wanted to hear charity leaders speak up more!
Solidarity was in the spotlight in 2022. From supporting a humane asylum system to fighting the cost-of-living crisis, charities, people-powered movements, unions, and religious groups worked together to make their case. Our It’s All About Power guide helped organisations examine how they work alongside people with first-hand experience of inequalities and poverty. Imagine what we can all achieve together.
SMK is here for you in 2023. We’ve grown this year, so will be starting 2023 stronger than ever. As ‘the campaigner’s campaigner’, SMK will keep supporting and connecting you, defending the space to campaign, and sharing what we’ve learned. We’ll also be celebrating the best of this year’s campaigns at the 2023 SMK National Campaigner Awards – so use the break to get your nominations in!
For now, a huge thank you for being part of the SMK campaigning community in 2022. We wish you a peaceful new year.
The Team at SMK