Almost every single organisational review taking place in 2021 will likely start along the lines of ‘2020 saw a complete change to our ways of working and great challenges’. At our AGM, we too recognised 2020’s upheaval, change and challenges – but recognised the many achievements we have had as a local party. It has been a difficult time since lockdown first started in March 2020, but our members have been vigilant members of the community and continued to campaign on vital issues, such as the climate emergency.

Overall, since November 2019 (the last AGM) our ambition has stayed constant: secure the representation of elected Greens

in Southwark. So started the Co-Chairs report from Bartley and Susan, after an enthusiastic welcome to many members over zoom. Indeed, we were delighted to welcome many members to the online AGM on 23rd January. The engagement and enthusiasm of participants was a most welcome spur of motivation for the local party. This is especially needed with the final short campaign for the London elections ahead of us and simultaneous planning of the 2022 local election campaigns. In addition to supporting and coordinating the two election campaigns, both Bartley and Susan are re-launching a monthly members’ meeting and promoting positive and inclusive ways of membership engagement.

Meg, who acted as Membership Officer for 2020, echoed their intentions. She noted in 2020 she had built engagement though welcome phone calls, membership surveys and social events. Running again for the same post in 2021, she offered the idea of a mentoring programme within Southwark Green Party to support members new to campaigning, which was well received. Prior to Meg’s report, Toby presented his report of his work as Data Officer. He highlighted his collaboration with Meg on our first membership survey, along with his work on analysing ward information to inform the election campaign strategy for the 2022 elections. His presentation was extremely well organised, with a healthy dose of helpful visuals and stats – to be expected!

A further healthy item was the 2020 budget, which was presented by Andy our Treasurer. Prior to the meeting Andy had sent out an easy-to-read budget report and encountered few questions – especially in comparison to the praise he received for his well-structured report. Finally, thanks were given to Tracey who has been not only much cherished Secretary of the local party but also a valued and tireless campaigner. For her hard work and dedication a further thanks to you here, Tracey.

All current Officers and Co-Chairs stood and were all re-elected. We will be posting details and profiles of the team of officers here soon so you can put faces to names and understand more about what they do. The role of Secretary and the newly established Diversity & Inclusion Officer remain open, so if you have any interest in these roles or simply want to help out in these areas, please do contact us. The Diversity & Inclusion Officer was created after the motion was submitted by Liba Hoskin and Eleanor Margolies and unanimously adopted. All attendees recognised the need for this role to build on outreach work and inclusivity within Southwark Green Party.

We thank all members who attended for making this AGM a positive and motivational event, and hope to be able to see you in person as soon as it is safe to do.