Simon Pope - Senior Press Officer, The Blue Cross

Simon Pope was parliamentary researcher to Nigel Griffiths MP from 1992 to 1997. After the 1997 election, Nigel went on to become Minister for Consumer Affairs at the DTI (currently Minister for Small Business) and Simon left to join the International Fund for Animal Welfare as their UK Public Affairs Manager. He is currently Senior Press Officer at The Blue Cross.

On July 13 1985 the rejection of politics as a means of effecting change was complete - an international crisis was being solved on live TV and not a politician was in sight. Live Aid was a reflection of its time and the voluntary sector's disillusionment and disengagement with Government. But today, whether he likes it or not Sir Bob realises that more can be achieved by browbeating Ministers. And they listen to him, invite him back, and sometimes even do what he tells them to.

The voluntary sector has undergone huge changes since 1985. In particular many campaigning charities are in a revolving-door lobbying system where they have to continually match the resources and skills of big, vested-interest institutions. Forget any idea that the voluntary sector is characterised by brown sandal-wearing, cheesecloth-clad do-gooders. In the 21st century, it is vibrant, creative and something the Government is increasingly reliant on. The environment is professional and accountable. There is ample scope for innovation, career progression and you do feel that what you do is more than a means to an end.

In the last decade voluntary sector employers have begun to recruit public affairs professionals at higher salaries than ever before, in order to at least close the gap with those paid to commercial lobbyists. I wasn't the only one to suffer the moral dilemma of choosing between the lure of money offered by PR companies and the sustaining warm glow of keeping my ethics intact by working for a charity. After Labour came to power in 1997, I had a number of offers from PR agencies but couldn't stomach the idea of having to represent something that I didn't believe in. Besides, I was working for an MP who had made his reputation on terrier-like campaigning and I was becoming more and more impressed with the way in which the sector was developing.

Keir Hardie once said that Parliament responds to pressure, not argument, but campaigning today is a sophisticated art which encompasses everything from hard-nosed scientific data, through to emotive and personalised expressions of support from constituents. You will have to judge how best to exert pressure on a range of key individuals. MPs are generally more receptive to lobbying from the voluntary sector, and their hard-pressed parliamentary researchers value the utility of having someone else on hand to share their work. You may find yourself persuading a backbencher to take up a particular Private Members Bill. Or perhaps talking them through some tricky supplementary questions to throw at the minister in whatever Departmental question time is taking place that day. In order to do this, you'll have to get your head around some pretty complex issues, which you have to interpret for a busy MP. ("And next time, drop Einstein" was one piece of advice I heard a tired backbencher give a lobbyist after he brought along a very clever but entirely incomprehensible economist).

Hopefully what develops is a close working relationship of mutual benefit to your charity or NGO and the range of MPs you work with. If you progress to being offered a drink in the Strangers Bar, consider it a complement on your skills. But your work has other dimensions. Civil servants are anxious to get your views, as part of formal and informal consultations about changes to legislation. In doing so they know that they are often drawing on expert opinion that may come back to haunt them should they ignore it. You'll become a familiar prowler of the committee corridor and will team up with colleagues from other like-minded charities to blitz Ministers and others who might be drifting away from previous commitments. You'll share gossip and pieces of information with them, but always look for ways to push your charity to the top of the pile. Regional and local government are becoming increasingly important targets, and many charities have employees to develop initiatives at this level before moving on towards rolling them out nationally. An annual tour of duty on the Party Conferences, volunteering to assist with the admin on key All-Party Groups, writing briefings for adjournment debates, all these should be the stock in trade of anyone working for a campaigning charity or NGO.

As a politically astute public affairs professional in the voluntary sector, you will have an understanding of both the subtle mechanics of Westminster and the more clunky machinery of Whitehall. This is quite a task. I spent five whole years in Westminster and realised at an early stage that no-one should ever try and understand it all. Experiencing work in the Westminster office of a Member of Parliament is illuminating and knowing just what the limitations and pressures are is extremely valuable. Opportunities often exist over the summer recess, but you won't experience the pervasive buzz of the place.

It is a short journey from politics into the voluntary sector. You can find yourself working for organisations, even individuals, who in previous months had been lobbying you. Employers will be interested in any direct experience of the political environment you might have, but many of the most effective lobbyists I ever came across were those who simply had a genuine interest in their subject and enthused us about becoming involved. Many of them had never worked in that environment before, so no-one should assume that working for an MP is a prerequisite for entry into the sector. And don't imagine that having a politics degree necessarily prepares you for this role any better than a myriad number of other different disciplines. Admittedly my degree in archaeology hasn't been of great service, but it shows that no-one should be put off because they don't think they have studied the right subject.