Writing to your elected representatives
Writing to your elected representative can have a huge impact in promoting the orthoptic profession. We’ve put together a few tips to consider when writing:
1. Find out who to write to:
Healthcare is devolved outside of England, therefore who you write to will depend upon where you live:
- In England, write you your local Member of Parliament (MP)
- In Northern Ireland, write to your local Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA)
- In Scotland, write to your local Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP)
- In Wales, write to your local Members of the Senedd (MS)
You can find out who your local elected representatives are, and even email them directly, through writetothem.com.
2. Personalise your letter
Elected representatives and their assistants read a huge amount of letters and will hopefully receive a number from orthoptists about our campaigns! They are far more likely to take notice and respond positively if they can see this is something that matters to you personally and that you have taken the time to give them some personal detail. This is doubly the case if that detail makes this relevant to their local area.
3. Be succinct
They will receive a lot of letters and emails. Personalising your letter is great, but try to keep it under a page. (You may wish to include other information, such as our infographic, but the initial letter should be kept brief.)
4. Send both an email and a letter
Some representatives are more likely to respond to letters, some to emails – make sure you cover all the bases.
5. Include your address
It is vital that you include your address in your letter. All elected representatives have to respond to all correspondence from their constituents, so make this obvious to them!
After you have written to them:
- Let us know who you’ve contacted by emailing r.huzzey@orthoptics.org.uk.
- Give them 2/3 weeks, then, if they’ve not responded, give them a call – you may be quite far down their ‘to do’ pile, but a quick call can get you bumped up.
- Once they do respond, let us know what we can do to help. We can offer advice, provide a huge range of resources and are very happy to send a representative to visits or meetings.
Explore other areas
Policy & campaigns
Find out about our work representing the orthoptic profession and campaigning on the issues that mean the most to our members.
Read more
Influencing
As an orthoptist, there is no better advocate for the profession than you. You may not see yourself as an influencer, but every member of BIOS can help support and promote the profession.
Read more
Promotional materials
We’ve a wide range of posters, leaflets, and infographics for use in promoting orthoptics.
Read more