News

Write for Rights - Saturday 10 December 2011, 2-6pm

On Saturday 10 December, International Human Rights Day, the Hampstead and Belsize group joined forces with the St John's Wood & Maida Vale group to hold a 'Write for Rights' event at the Legal Café in Belsize Park. Thousands of people across the world spent the day writing letters to prisoners of conscience, victims of oppression, and the authorities responsible. A total of 35 people came along and penned 385 cards and 11 letters. The final figure is probably much higher, as people took campain information home with them to continue their actions when the café had to close at 6pm. Thank you to everyone who came along and took part - your actions will make a difference.

Human Rights Film Night - 22 September 2011

Amnesty Hampstead & Belsize was proud to present its Human Rights Film Night at the Tricycle Theatre on Thursday 22 September. Featuring animation, documentary and fiction, its showcase of human rights-related films offered a global portrait of issues related to Amnesty's campaigns, including refugees and asylum, women's human rights, and prisoners of conscience. Profits of over £2000 from the event all went to Amnesty International.

Comedian Lenny Henry introduced the screening, which was followed by a Q&A session with some of the filmakers, hosted by Geoff Andrew, Head of the Film Programme at BFI Southbank.

Q&A panel members include acclaimed writer/director Sue Clayton, the director of Hamedullah: the Road Home as well as the feature film The Disappearance of Finbar and numerous Channel 4 documentaries and dramas. Other speakers were the creators of the animated film Abuelas, director Afarin Eghbal and screenwriter Francesca Gardiner, and Tim Travers Hawkins, director of 1000 Voices, a powerful animation featuring recordings of detained asylum seekers' voices. The evening was mentioned beforehand in The Independent (Monday 19 September) and you can read an post-event account written by its organizer, Shohini Chaudhuri, by clicking here.

A Walk in Support of the Refugees & Asylum Campaign - June 2011

Members of the Hampstead Amnesty group met on the hottest day of the year so far and walked six miles around Hampstead Heath and Highgate Village to raise awareness of both Refugee Week and Amnesty's Refugees and Asylum campagin. It was a sponsored walk with a real difference - walkers were sponsored with actions rather than money. Sponsors accessed an online 'pledge' form, and ticked boxes to indicate which of the listed actions they felt able to contribute to. The online sponsorship form, which contains a wealth of links to relevant websites, can still be accessed - please feel free to cascade the link to anyone you know who might be interested: http://www.tfaforms.com/198132

While the walk may be over, it's not too late to follow the above link to the form and participate in some of the online actions listed, including watching films on YouTube, doing quizzes, visiting websites, sending emails... easily accessible ways of making a difference which all take between 3 and 15 minutes!

Support for Palestine Meeting - April 2011

Read Hampstead Amnesty member Melvyn Kirner's write-up of the group's visit from the Free Palestine Campaign Director Sarah Colbourne.

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