Disarm Education - Executive Committee Elections
Disarm Education was founded in 2025 as a grassroots campaign in response to the call from Palestinian trade unions to boycott the production and trade of arms to Israel across key sectors. Since then, our call to end ties between schools, colleges and arms companies has been adopted by the National Education Union at the National Conference, making it the first and largest teaching union in Europe to commit to ending the militarisation of education.
Over the past year, the British government has continued its wholesale militarisation of society despite growing public opposition to war. While schools, hospitals and other vital public services remain underfunded, the government has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to military spending and the profiteering of arms companies.
Education has become a key battleground. Arms companies are increasingly embedding themselves in schools and colleges to normalise the ideology of war while using the education system as a recruitment pipeline for their future workforce. As STEM education remains chronically underfunded and educators continue to face real-terms pay cuts after years of austerity, private arms companies are stepping in to present themselves as providers of opportunities for young people.
Over the last year, we have submitted Freedom of Information requests to every secondary school, sixth form and college in the UK. Of the 42% of institutions that have responded so far, 41% confirmed they have links with arms companies. These relationships include careers fairs, competitions, STEM roadshows, site visits, governance roles and formal sponsorship.
This autumn, we will launch a public platform featuring an interactive map exposing these links between arms companies and educational institutions. This is only the first stage of the campaign. Our aim is to remove arms companies from every school and college where these relationships exist, while encouraging institutions across the UK to pledge not to work with the arms industry in the future.
To achieve this, we need you to join the Executive Committee. We have a range of roles available, all of which involve working collaboratively with other committee and campaign members to build and strengthen the campaign. We encourage anyone committed to getting arms companies out of education to apply, whether your organising experience is in education, your local community or national campaigns.
Executive Committee members are expected to contribute approximately 1 - 3 hours each week, alongside attending a monthly organising meeting held on the first Monday of every month. General meetings will take place every three months and Committee Members will report back to the wider membership. You can find descriptions of all the available roles below.
Chair
Provide leadership for, and represent the views of, the National Steering Committee (hereby referred to as the Committee).
Work with the Committee to determine the strategic priorities and objectives of the campaign using data from the FOI campaign.
Work with the Committee to plan and deliver a successful UK-wide launch of the FOI data platform.
Chair monthly Committee meetings, General Meetings and the AGM.
Act as a public spokesperson on behalf of the Committee.
Support the Treasurer in identifying and writing funding applications that meet the strategic priorities of the campaign.
Support the Communications Officers with press and media activity.
Support the Campaigns Officer to ensure campaigns are effective and aligned with the campaign's strategic priorities.
Treasurer and Fundraising
Reimburse expenses in a timely manner.
Work with the chair to develop a fundraising strategy.
Keep track of member expenses through an ongoing financial report.
Manage the bank account and ensure compliance with all relevant financial laws and regulations.
Prepare the annual financial statement.
Identify and write high-quality funding applications to support the strategic priorities of the campaign.
Secretary
Organise monthly Committee meetings, three-monthly General Meetings and the AGM.
Take meeting minutes and distribute them to the Committee in a timely manner.
Ensure resources and documents are stored safely and securely.
Lead on responding to member queries alongside the Membership Officer.
Membership Officer
Work collaboratively with the Committee and organise and lead a member-led working group to:
Design an effective CRM database to securely and efficiently store membership information.
Lead on responding to member queries alongside the Secretary.
Develop and deliver an onboarding strategy for new members.
Develop and maintain relationships with members to encourage and increase participation in the campaign.
Work with the Campaigns Officer to ensure members are actively engaged in campaigns.
Work with the Communications Officers to ensure members are kept up to date with the wider political context and campaign events and opportunities.
Ensure members have opportunities to participate in events, develop skills and take on leadership roles.
Communications Officer (Press and External Communications)
Work collaboratively with the Committee and organise and lead a member-led working group to:
Work with the Communications Officer (Social Media and Internal Communications) to develop an annual communications plan.
Develop a press and media strategy to increase the campaign's visibility.
Draft high-quality press releases for national and local digital and print media.
Work with the Committee to draft long-form articles and digital media copy (e.g. for interviews and podcasts).
Act as the primary point of contact for journalists, build relationships with the press, and respond to media enquiries.
Communications Officer (Social Media and Internal Communications)
Work collaboratively with the Committee and organise and lead a member-led working group to:
Work with the Communications Officer (Press and External Communications) to develop an annual communications plan.
Manage social media channels, website content, and targeted digital campaigns to increase campaign visibility and engagement.
Work with the Committee to create content for social media.
Work with the Campaigns Officer and Research Officer to create high-quality resources that enable members to develop the campaign locally.
Outreach Officer (Trade Union and Workers' Liaison)
Work collaboratively with the Committee and organise and lead a member-led working group to:
Work with Districts to support the implementation of actions arising from motions (e.g. funding, training and worker liaison).
Work with the Research Officer to identify unaffiliated Districts in strategic areas and increase affiliation.
Keep up to date with NEU events and conferences, ensuring Disarm Education is represented where appropriate.
Work with the Campaigns Officer to ensure training materials for workers are effective and up to date.
Work with Membership Officer to develop a system to monitor and track engagement from Trade Union reps and workers.
Outreach Officer (Community Liaison)
Work collaboratively with the Committee and organise and lead a member-led working group to:
Build relationships with relevant local community and anti-militarist organisations, including but not limited to PSC branches, Stop the War branches, CAAT and ForcesWatch.
Work with the Student and Parent/Carer Officers to connect with students and parents/carers and identify opportunities to involve them in the campaign.
Recruit and train members from these organisations.
Identify opportunities within community settings in key strategic areas to raise the profile of Disarm Education.
Work with Membership Officer to develop a system to monitor and track engagement from Community groups.
Campaigns Officer
Work collaboratively with the Committee and organise and lead a member-led working group to:
Plan and develop campaign strategies that support both short- and long-term goals.
Keep up to date with the changing political context surrounding militarisation and education, using this to inform the campaign's strategic priorities.
Create and distribute high-quality digital and printed campaign materials.
Design and deliver campaigns with Disarm Education supporters.
Work with the Research Officer to collect relevant information and data to inform campaigns.
Work with the Outreach Officers to ensure campaigns target both national and local priority areas.
Work with the Communications Officer (Press and External Communications) to secure high-profile media coverage for campaigns.
Help raise the profile of Disarm Education through campaigning activity.
Keep up to date with campaigning trends and the development of campaigning tools.
Contribute to the monitoring, evaluation and reporting of campaign outputs and impact.
Work with the Membership Officer to ensure campaign contacts are stored accurately and effectively.
Research Officer
Work collaboratively with the Committee and organise and lead a member-led working group to:
Maintain the FOI database and work with the MRU to continue developing the data, including gathering documents from schools.
Conduct in-depth research into specific schemes and programmes run by arms companies.
Create data-led resources for training events.
Work with the Communications Officers to ensure members are well informed and that research findings are communicated clearly and accessibly.
Parent/Carer Officer
Work collaboratively with the Committee and organise and lead a member-led working group to:
Design opportunities for parents and carers to become involved in the campaign.
Work with the Membership Officer and Campaigns Officer to develop a strategy for increasing parent and carer participation.
Work with Membership Officer to track and monitor parent engagement in the campaign annually.
Work with the Research Officer and Campaigns Officer to develop resources and campaigns specifically aimed at parents and carers.
Work with the Communications Officer to ensure communications are accessible to parents and carers.
Student Officer (Open to anyone aged 16+ in full or part-time education)
Work collaboratively with the Committee and organise and lead a member-led working group to:
Design opportunities for students and young people to become involved in the campaign.z
Work with the Membership Officer and Campaigns Officer to develop a strategy for increasing student participation.
Work with Membership Officer to track and monitor student engagement in the campaign annually.
Work with the Research Officer and Campaigns Officer to develop resources and campaigns specifically aimed at students.
Work with the Communications Officer to ensure communications are accessible to students.