10 ways to support the Occupy Movement if you're not camping

Not everyone can camp out every night (myself included) due to a variety of reasons, but there are many things you can do to help your local Occupy camp if you can't be there all the time:

1. Come down when you can
Many Occupiers have other commitments too, such as jobs, university or children, and can't be there all the time - particularly in normal working hours. Come down and lend a hand with the camp for an hour or two so that they can take care of other things in their lives.

2. Write letters
If you are of the opinion that your local Occupy camp and the Occupy Movement in general is a good thing, write a letter or an e-mail of support to your MP, local councillors and/or local and national newspapers. Lets outweigh the complaints with positive letters.

You can find your MP's contact details here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/

3. Donate
Many camps have a donation box and also a "wishlist" of equipment that they need. Food is always useful and welcome (be aware that most camps don't have freezers and may have vegetarians/vegans among them).

4. Educate
Tell your friends and family why we are doing this, comment on blogs and news articles and try to explain that this is about issues that affect everyone. Share relevant news articles, pictures and videos with your friends on social networking sites like Facebook.

5. Keep the Occupiers up to date
Bring a newspaper, share important news articles on the Facebook pages, and pop along if you've heard something really important. Camping out and talking to the public 24/7 with no electricity can sometimes result in little time to keep informed of current events.

6. Play some music
Some Occupy camps have music sessions. If you play an instrument or sing, offer to come along and play a few songs. You may find yourself with a fan club! Check with them first, as some camps may have restrictions on noise at certain times of the day or have other things planned.

7. Inform yourself
Do some reading about some of the issues that are responsible for the current global economic crisis and/or are relevant to the Occupy Movement. Some suggestions are: Fractional and Federal Reserve Banking, find out which corporations have donated to which political parties, research alternative political and financial systems. Share what you have learnt with others.

8. Diversify the Movement
"We are the 99%". Some groups are working to ensure that all are represented within the movement. An idea that has had some success in Bristol is making a safe space for women. Family days, where people with children are encouraged to come along, have been successful also. If you think that any section of society affected by this crisis isn't represented well enough within the movement, talk to your peers and your local camp about it and try to come up with ideas to involve them.

9. Printing and distributing
Some camps have posters and flyers. If they need help, offer to print/photocopy some for them and/or distribute them around town.

10. Occupy your life
If you have had a positive experience at a camp and/or learned something from this movement that you think would be great to have in everyday life, try to put it into practice. Things such as consensus-based decision making, not buying unessential items, reducing your carbon footprint, moving to a more ethical bank, stop buying from unethical corporations and encouraging discussions on local and global issues are all things that could work in the world outside the tent cities.

Disclaimer: All views and opinions above that are not stated facts are those of myself (as an individual parcipitant in the Occupy Movement), except where stated, and do not necessarily represent the views of a particular Occupy camp or those of the Occupy Movement as a whole.