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Newsletter 2014-07-12: Pride Glasgow! Volunteer Opportunities and Coming Up

July 12, 2014 in events, information, main, newsletter by Rob Hallam

Hello and welcome to another summertime newsletter. Are you sitting comfortably? Good. Lots to get through this week again!

First and foremost, next week is Glasgow Pride! Once again GU Amnesty intend to go along and join in the march and we may have a small social gathering thereafter. Hope to see everyone, including our friends from Glasgow West and possibly even Ayr there! There are a number of interesting things coming up as well as a whole host of pretty dandy volunteer opportunities. Interested? I am, so read on!

Saturday 19th July: Pride Glasgow!

It’s that time of year again. Get out your best marching boots and come along and join us for a day of celebration of identity. If you haven’t been before I would strongly urge you to come along. All are welcome, the atmosphere is very friendly. I wasn’t able to make the event last year, but I went to the one before that and it was definitely a highlight of my summer.

We’re going to march in the parade. This year it starts from Clyde Place (see map), and initially over the George V bridge. The assembly time is 9:30 AM, and the destination is the King Street Car Park at 11:30.

Start:

Our plan is to meet up outside Bridge Street Subway at 9:15.

Please get in touch via FB, Twitter or the website if you’re running late! Some folks have expressed an interest in joining us afterwards; thats fab too- we’ll probably head to a park or cafe or similar depending on the weather once the march has wound up. You can either meet us at King St Car Park, where we’l be until 12 at least, or get in touch as above and meet us at the social.

Photos from two years back.
One of the photos from Pride 2012

For those who can’t join us on the day, you could tweet your support (@guamnesty using the hashtag #glasgowpride. Include us in the tweets so we can retweet you!

Amnesty UK Volunteering Opportunities

With the Commonwealth Games nearly upon us and the Edinburgh Festival following hot on its heels, there are volunteering opportunities for both! If you fancy helping out, have a look and see if any of the following interest you:

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/amnesty-commonwealth-ambassadors

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/amnesty-edinburgh-festival-ambassadors

Please note that the closing date for the Commonwealth Ambassadors and Edinburgh Festival Ambassadors is this Monday (14th July), so get your skates on if you want to take part!

If you’re in Edinburgh and don’t mind the commute, there are opportunities to help out at the Scotland Office:

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/administrator-volunteer

These close next Monday (21st July).

Volunteering Opportunity with Philanthrobeats

From our friends over at the ever-groovy Philanthrobeats, Sarah Crowe got in touch to let us know about a really positive volunteering opportunity:

Philanthrobeats are offering one-to-one music classes for asylum seeker/refugee children
and we are looking for volunteers! Philanthrobeats are launching
one-to-one music classes with asylum seeker and refugee children. If any skilled
musicians out there want to get involved, take a look at the info on our website where you
can also find the volunteer application form.

http://philanthrobeats.org.uk/music-classes/

It’s worth keeping an eye on PB’s website (http://philanthrobeats.org.uk/) for their upcoming events.

AIUK Student Survey

A quick word from Rachel Statham from the STAN committee:

Hello Scottish Activists,

Please take a few minutes to fill out our AIUK student survey and give a little feedback
on what your Student Action Network Committee can do to help improve the student
activist experience –
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Jc2KR6Cc%2bzHN9keazRXvUg%3d%3d
It’s quick and straight forward, and will guide new student materials for the coming year.

Most importantly, a huge thank you on behalf of the student network for all your inspiring
activism over the past year – have a wonderful summer and I look forward to hearing of
your plans in the autumn!

I’ve done the survey and it really is ‘quick and straightforward’; it took me only a minute or two. Feedback is really important in general – we’ll be looking for your feedback throughout the year so be ready for that! – and it’s worth your time to make sure your experiences are represented.

GHRN Events

You may have seen us promoting GHRN events in the past. They are the Glasgow Human Rights Network. Their website speaks for itself, but I’ll briefly quote the introduction:

The Glasgow Human Rights Network aims to bring together researchers, practitioners,
members of civil society organisations and policymakers who address human rights issues.

They put on rather quite interesting events and conferences which are worth attending if you realy want to get into the nitty-gritty of human rights issues in depth.

This week there is a one-day conference on LGBTI rights in the Commonwealth:

18th July 9.00am – 5.00pm
Sir Charles Wilson Building, University of Glasgow
E15 on campus map

‘LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth People of the Commonwealth’ is a free
one day conference. The event is being held in Glasgow on Friday 18th July, five days
before the opening of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

For full details and to register, please visit the Conference website.

The website is hosted over on the Equality Network

It looks to be a very interesting conference, and definitely worth a look; particularly given the focus we gave to LGBT issues last year.

Freshers Week 2014

It’s still a little over two months away, but we’ll be having a stall as usual during Freshers Week 2014. Not only that, but we’re planning on at least one event in collaboration with our good friends in STAR which I am really excited about. Details will come a bit closer to the time, but it promises to be really informative.

The reason I’m giving this advance heads-up as we’ll be looking for helpers- it reflects positively on the society if we’re got a well-run stall. The huge attendence after Fresher’s Week last year proves that if nothing else!

Letter Writing: A Reply

Towards the end of last term we did some letter writing under the banner of ‘Scotland Stands for Human Rights’. And we got a reply!

Reply from Blair Jenkins of Yes Scotland

It’s great to get a reply and when we do we want to make sure everyone is aware that we do- letter writing is one of the vital things we do as a group, and that Amnesty International does in general, so when we get feedback on it we’re sure to make the most of it.

There will be plenty more letter-writing opportunities in the year to come!

End of Newsletter

Well done for making to the end of the newsletter. If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback you can always get in touch either via the website or on Facebook or Twitter.

This week’s ‘thanks for reading’ reward is a picture of a cute bird I snapped having a drink in my back garden.

Bird is the word

I figured having featured VladPut last time y’all deserved something a bit, well… nicer.

Hope to see you next week at Pride!
Rob

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Avatar photo by Ruth

Israel: Collective punishment will not bring the justice that murdered teens deserve | Amnesty International

July 1, 2014 in Human Rights News, news by Ruth

“But justice will not be served by Israel seeking revenge by imposing collective punishment, or committing other violations of Palestinians’ rights. Rather, the Israeli authorities must conduct a full, thorough and impartial investigation that leads to the prosecution of those suspected of being responsible in fair trials.”<\/p>\n

via Israel: Collective punishment will not bring the justice that murdered teens deserve | Amnesty International<\/a>.<\/p>\n”Watch movie online The Transporter Refueled (2015)

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Avatar photo by Rob Hallam

Photos from Amnestea Part 2!

June 21, 2014 in events, main, photos by Rob Hallam

Well, we already had all the tea and cakes we could handle; but we needed some sunshine! Fortunately Glasgow delivered – and how! – with a glorious day.

Thanks to everyone who came along and shared their chat 😀 Photos below, and if you couldn’t join us physically yesterday, join us in sprit and send us or tweet us your own (Amnes)tea pics! I’ve done one to kick things off– scroll down to see!

 

 

 

And just so no-one feels awkward about being the first to send in a ‘Amnestea Selfie’, here’s mine:

Rob's Amnestea Selfie

Rob’s Amnestea Selfie


I’m sure you guys can do much better!

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Avatar photo by Rob Hallam

Newsletter 2014-06-18: Amnestea Mark 2, Stop Torture Launch, Other Upcoming Events and Things of Interest

June 18, 2014 in events, information, main, news, newsletter, spb by Rob Hallam

Hello all! I hope everyone that’s still here has been enjoying the frankly stunning weather we’ve been having in Glasgow, and for those who have gone home already I hope the weather’s good there too. Despite us being out-of-term there’s quite a bit on! Briefly: we’re having a small social gathering in Kelvingrove park on Friday 20th, there’s the “Feast of Stories” as part of Scottish Refugee Week on Saturday 21st; Stop Torture Campaign launch on Wednesday 25th with Amnesty Scotland; a ‘Scotland as a Good Glocal Citizen’ Amnesty Scotland event on Monday 30th; and some other upcoming things and opportunities for everyone- whether in
Glasgow or not!

It’s a long one even from looking at that paragraph, so if you get to the end of the newsletter there will be a surprise! Ooh, the suspense.

This Friday 20th June Afternoon: Social in Kelvingrove Park / AKA ‘Amnestea Mark II’

We had a great time at the last Amnestea back at the start of the month. Thanks to Ruth for hosting us when the weather just didn’t want to cooperate. So in the spirit of getting the sunshine that we missed out on last time, we figured we’d have a relaxed social gathering in Kelvingrove Park this Friday afternoon. We’ll aim to kick off after lunch (maybe 1 or 2 PM) which we will announce on FB and Twitter, but please feel free to turn up whenever suits- we have at least one or two joining us onice they escape from work! Also, don’t feel you have to bring or bake anything – we had our fill of confection last time around!

A table *full* of cakes biscuits sweets and tea!

And if you aren’t in Glasgow but feel like joining in the spirit of things, please take a selfie of yourself with some tea or a picnic or of a teapot and send it to us or tweet it to us or get it to us somehow! Might sound a bit silly on the face of it but we’d like to build a library of “people being involved with GU Amnesty” even when not in Glasgow.

Wednesday 25th June 1800: Stop Torture Campaign Launch – John McIntyre Building Room 201

Exciting times next week – we’re playing host to Amnesty Scotland’s launch of the Stop Torture campaign. With canapes and Alistair Carmichael, Secretart of State for Scotland, as a confirmed speaker it promises to be an interesting launch for a campaign that is right at the heart of Amnesty International’s work. If you’re in Glasgow or within travelling distance please come along. You can find the event page on Facebook as ever.

Please note that this is in Room 201 (downstairs) in the John McIntyre building rather than the more usual venue of the Williams Room.

Also on Wednesday 25th June: CFCI Goes to Court

As <a href=”http://www.guamnesty.org.uk/2014/06/june-2014-amnestea-in-the-park-stop-torture-campaign-launch-refugee-week-and-more/>Ruth mentioned in the last newsletter, our CFCI petition is finally making its way to the university court. After the SRC passed a motion of support we hope that Jess McGrellis can convince the court of the miportance of the motion and the need for change. Fingers crossed.

Coming Up on 19th July: Glasgow Pride!

<a href=”https://www.guamnesty.org.uk/2012/07/pride/>GU Amnesty are no strangers to Pride. We will be marching again this year, and our friends over at the Glasgow West Amnesty group will hopefully be joining us 🙂 We will post up more details about where and when to meet closer to the time. Please note that tickets for the main event (not the parade!) are £5 this year, which the Pride Glasgow website notes is due to decreased grant funding this year. It’s a shame, but if they don’t have the same level of funding I think a fiver to cover such a massive event is very reasonable. One day our SPB will be just as big– more on that later…

Other Events

Saturday 21st June: Feast of Stories

This event is going on as part of Scottish Refugee Week and sounds fab. I’ll let the description speak for itself:

Tales of Migration and Welcome

Come and celebrate the rituals of sharing food and storytelling with people and organisations in Glasgow who welcome refugees and asylum seekers! I would really appreciate if you can share this on your fb page as well.

There will be tales about migration and welcome from seasoned storytellers, alongside a delicious, local and organic meal cooked by volunteers on the day. There will be space to share your own story, as well as music, poetry and maybe even dancing. Proceeds will go to a local charity.

Saturday 21st June, 7pm-11pm
Kinning Park Complex 43 Cornwall Street Glasgow, G41 1BA

Price on a sliding scale from FREE – £15. Booking essential!

For more information about how to get involved and how to book a place, please visit: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/feast-of-stories-scottish-refugee-week-2014-tickets-10965912339 or contact bridgetholtom@hotmail.co.uk

Monday 23rd June: Free Online Course – Right Versus Might in International Relations

Looks very interesting, we had a chat about this at Amnestea and folks were very keen on it. More info: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/right-vs-might. Check it out!

(Change of Date) Monday 30th June 1830: Business and Human Rights: Scotland as a Good Global Citizen

Another event by Amnesty Scotland, this is on at The Lighthouse in town and also looks really interesting. Please note it was moved from 23rd June to 30th due to unforseen circumstances. More details on the event page:

Modern day slavery, forced labour, human trafficking, the illegal arms trade- these are all human rights abuses resulting from unscrutinised and irresponsible business practices. This is an opportunity to hear from both sides of the Scottish Independence Referendum debate as to how they will ensure that Scotland stands for human rights.

Guest Speakers:

  • Humza Yousaf MSP, Minister for External Affairs and International Relations
  • Robert Brown, Liberal Democrat Councillor for the Rutherglen South Ward of South Lanarkshire Council
  • Chaired by Peter Frankental, Amnesty International UK’s Programme Director – Economic Affairs

Tickets are free but you need to book via eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/business-and-human-rights-scotland-as-a-good-global-citizen-tickets-11929323929

Opportunities

Those of you who were around at the AGM a couple months back and heard the speeches will know that we’ve some big plans for next year. For those of you who weren’t at the AGM… we have some big plans for next year! I’d like to talk about those a bit over the summer as we hash out the ideas and figure out what’s going to work. As ever, if you’ve an idea please contact us and let us know 🙂 In the meantime, here’s a couple of things to consider getting involved in:

SPB Subcommittee

Last year our lovely former VP and SPB Convenor Debbie White took charge of the running of our Secret Policeman’s Ball, which is a major night of comedy modelled on the one also held by Amnesty UK. She did a fantastic job but I’m sure she’d be the first to point out the contribution of the SPB Subcommittee. It’s much more than just being a pair of helping hands, it’s an opportunity to shape a really big event. One of the things Debbie pointed out is it’s a great thing to see your ideas realised and to take ownership of the event. Plus it’s a great thing in terms of experience to talk about in interviews, cover letters, personal statements and the like.

GU Amnezine

For those who aren’t familiar with our incessant puns, we’re also planning on doing an Amnesty Magazine this summer in time for Freshers’ Week. We’d like some quotes from members to give people a taste of what it’s like, for example:

  • meetings
  • memorable campaign actions
  • favourite events
  • one important thing you learned

If you’ve 30 seconds to dash off a sentence or two on one or more of those headings, or anything else, that would be great! And because it’s so easy to forget I will probably mention these topics again over the course of the summer.

Naturally, if you’d like to be involved with either, please let us know!

The Surprise

Well done for making this far! Or for skipping ahead to the end to see the reward. Either way, you deserve some pictorial fun. I already mentioned <a href=”https://www.guamnesty.org.uk/2014/06/photos-from-amnestea-2014/>Amnestea and the photos from there, but there are now finally photos up from the ceilidh the other week, including this gem of someone really enjoying themself:

A jump and heel click

But since you all are avid readers of the website you’ve probably seen the ceilidh photos already. So here’s something different, our dear friend VP:

putin_rights

Yeah. Thanks for reading folks!

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Avatar photo by Rob Hallam

Photos from Amnestea 2014!

June 17, 2014 in events, main, photos by Rob Hallam

Well, it may have rained and we may have had to have the picnic indoors, but we had a great time! There was vigorous debate, balance boards and – of course – loads of cakes! Thanks to everyone who came along and who baked or provided the food we enjoyed. We may do a second round of Amnestea, this time in the park, as the weather is looking better this week. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter as we’ll probably announce it at short notice. If you’re in Glasgow though please come along! 🙂

Update: We did have a second round, and the weather was glorious!

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Avatar photo by Rob Hallam

Photos fom Annual STAR-Red Cross-GU Amnesty Ceilidh

June 17, 2014 in events, main, photos by Rob Hallam

These are coming up a little late, but here they are. Big thanks to Spootiskerry for kindly playing and calling for us! Thanks too to all the local businesses who provided excellent raffle prizes, and to everyone from STAR and Red Cross (and our guys – thanks Maisie!) for organising the evening. Everyone enjoyed the ceilidh, which these photos definitely show, it it was great to raise money for the vital Red Cross Tracing Service. You can find Spootiskerry on Facebook, check them out 🙂

The Whisky Toss:

The Raffle Draw:

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Avatar photo by Ruth

June 2014: Amnestea in the Park, Stop Torture Campaign Launch, Refugee Week and more!

June 1, 2014 in events, information, main, newsletter by Ruth

Happy post-exams stress!

I hope you’ve been enjoying the sunshine. If you are still in Glasgow, we have our final event of the year – Amnestea in the Park! – as well as an exciting campaign launch which we are co-hosting with Amnesty Scotland (see below). To those of you who have already left Glasgow for good, I wish you all the best. It’s been a fantastic year and a pleasure getting to know you all throughout.

At the end of the year, we are sending £1,700 to Amnesty International UK, which is an amazing amount of money, well done everyone! This will be added to our Raise-Off total, which you can see here (along with a photo from our SPB two years ago!).

We have had our official handover meeting, so this is the last newsletter from me. If there is any more exciting news over the summer, Rob will keep you posted!

Amnestea in the Park!

The event is up! We are going ahead on the 5th despite the variable weather. We have a backup plan in case it rains! Please check the event page on the day, if there is a change of plans we will post and include some phone numbers so you can call/text and be sure of what is happening.

Amnestea is a yearly end-of-term social event which is very informal and relaxed. Feel free to turn up when you are free during the day! Even if you are brand new to us, it is a great way to get to know the people in the group and relax for an afternoon. It´s about cakes, it´s about tea, it´s about music, it´s about bunting, it´s about people, and it´s about chilling out. Sun permitting, we will set up in Kelvingrove Park and stay for the afternoon. Hope to see you there!

An old photo of a previous Amnestea in the Park (it’s always this sunny!):

Amnestea in the Park 2010

Amnestea in the Park 2010

 

25th June 2014: ‘Stop Torture’ Campaign Launch, John McIntyre Building (Room 201), 6-8pm

GU Amnesty has been helping Amnesty Scotland to organise the launch of the global Stop Torture campaign in Glasgow. We will hear from various guest speakers including the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alistair Carmichael. Following the presentations, there will be drinks and nibbles with the opportunity to network.

More details will be added to the event page as soon as they become available.

Stop Torture campaign: http://www.amnesty.org/en/stoptorture

25th June 2014: CFCI Petition Finally Goes to Court!

Our Conflict-Free Campus Initiative petition is being raised by David Newall (Secretary of Court) at the next meeting of the University Court. SRC President, Jess McGrellis, will speak in support and the recommendation by the Secretary of Court will be to establish a working group to meet with representatives from GU Amnesty. This would allow for a report to be produced, outlining actions that should be taken by the University. This is very exciting news, and we have high hopes that this motion will be granted.

 

Other events and opportunities:

7th June 2014: Falun Gong Film Screening and Workshop, Hillhead Library

 

For those of you who missed our film screening in March, I strongly encourage you to go along and invite your friends. This eye-opening film exposes the brutal treatment of Falun Gong Practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party.

From Yuyu:

June is Glasgow Westend Festival month. Hillhead library offered us a slot for Falun Gong Introduction to public.  We will show visiters Free China: The Courage to Believe.  The workshop is free to public on 7th June, Saturday from 2:00 to 4:45pm.

Part 1: Screening of the award-winning documentary “Free China: The Courage to Believe”, stories of two Falun Gong practitioners who stood up for their peaceful belief. For taking their stance, they were imprisoned and tortured. The documentary sheds light on how Falun Gong practitioners hold on to the universal principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolenrance.

Part 2: Falun Gong exercises demonstration – everyone welcome to join.

www.falundafa.org.

 

11th June 2014: Training to Volunteer with STOP THE TRAFFIK

Interested in volunteering with STOP THE TRAFFIK at the Commonwealth Games?

From Euan at Stop the Traffik:

We are delighted to be helping to bring the UN GIFT Boxes to Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games this summer. The Boxes are a wonderful means of raising awareness of human trafficking and equipping communities to spot the signs of this abuse. You can read more about the Boxes at ungiftbox.org.

We are looking for volunteers to help out with the Boxes. You don’t need to be an expert to volunteer but you do need to come along to our training session. We will be running through everything you’ll need to know at Cafe Phoenix on Woodlands Road in Glasgow on 11 June. Come along at 5.30pm and you’ll get a wee cup of tea or a coffee.

Contact stopthetraffikglasgow@hotmail.co.uk if you have any questions.

 

16th – 22nd June 2014: Refugee Week

Don’t miss out on the many exciting events taking place this year! Visit the website to see what’s happening in Glasgow featuring events run by our friends at Philanthrobeats and STAR Glasgow.

From Scottish Refugee Council:

World Refugee Day Concert:  20th June 2014. The line-up is Young Fathers, Balkanarama and Skipinnish – all representing the rich and eclectic mix of cultures in Scotland today.

We’ve got 200 early bird tickets for sale now at the rate of £12 / £10. Once these go all tickets will be £15 / £12. All funds raised go to Scottish Refugee Council and British Red Cross to support our continuing work to provide support to refugees in Scotland.

Here’s the link:
https://www.facebook.com/events/642783769135246/

 

That’s all from me! Thank you to everyone for an incredible year of all things Amnesty. I hope you will stay involved with human rights activism next year in Glasgow or wherever you are. Good luck to Rob and the new committee, I know they will have many more new and exciting events for us to look forward to next year!

In the meantime, don’t hesitate to get in touch over summer if you have any ideas for next year, or have any news/events that you want to share with us.

Big love from the committee 2013 – 2014,

Ruth xx

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Pregnant Pakistani woman stoned to death by family | World news | theguardian.com

May 28, 2014 in Human Rights News by Ruth

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a private group, said in a report last month that some 869 women were murdered in “honour killings” in 2013.

via Pregnant Pakistani woman stoned to death by family | World news | theguardian.com.

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Avatar photo by Maisie Peebles

Annual Red Cross-STAR-GU Amnesty Ceilidh Tomorrow!

May 23, 2014 in events, main by Maisie Peebles

Hey everyone!

Hope exams went well and you are all having a well earned rest. Just to let you know that we are hosting a ceilidh along with Red Cross and Star tomorrow (Saturday 24th) at the QMU. All money goes towards British Red Cross tracing service for lost relatives.

Doors open 7:30 PM and it costs £3! Should a great night and ace way to celebrate end of exams. Hope you see lots of you guys there! Please join and share the facebook event!

Lots of Amnest-love
Maisie Peebles (fundraising officer)

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Avatar photo by Ruth

CFCI Update, Amneslunch, Refugee Week, Opportunities and Referendum Rights

April 30, 2014 in main, newsletter by Ruth

Hey everyone,

I hope the revision is going well!

We have some wonderful news: our SRC motion for a ‘conflict-free’ campus was passed on the 24th April, which means that the SRC are backing our CFCI campaign. You can find the motion on our website. We are still waiting for a formal response from David Newall and I will continue to email him until we get one.

In other news: Amnesty Scotland has been in touch to ask us to help them out with organising the launch of the ‘End Torture’ campaign. This will be an event with guest speakers including the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alisatair Carmichael and others tbc. The details are yet to be finalised but this will happen on the 28th May and we are delighted that Amnesty Scotland has chosen to launch the campaign in Glasgow with our involvement.

Tomorrow: Amneslunch! 12noon till 2pm, Fraser Building

It may be the month of exams, but here’s something that’ll both take your mind off that and help make the world right.

One of the core activities Amnesty International has always been associated with is letter-writing. A handwritten letter can be an effective tool to remind an oppressive regime that the world is watching; or to the victims of human rights abuses and their family that they are not alone and will not be overlooked. A well-timed letter can literally save or change the life of a person at risk.

So at lunch time, take a well-earned break from the library and come down to the Fraser Building to relax, have a chat, eat some lunch and join us writing letters to defend human rights. It would help if you brought along pen and paper, but there may be some available; along with templates and information on what we’re writing about.

This is totally informal, and don’t feel obliged to write a letter- if you want somewhere to come and chat and get away from studying for a wee while you’ll be most welcome. As tricky as it can be to do, taking a proper break can even help your revision!

Stay posted with our meeting times: https://www.facebook.com/events/1407409816192093/

Referendum Rights Campaign

The campaign to include human rights in the debate over Scottish independence has been launched and you can send an email to MSPs and MPs to make sure that whatever their view, human rights are not ignored.  We have the campaign pack which I will bring to the Fraser Building for some fun reading, and we can all take photos with the poster, yay!

 

Exciting Opportunity to Volunteer with AIUK

From Sabine:

Amnesty International UK is currently recruiting volunteers to work as country coordinators in the following regional teams:
– Middle East and Gulf,
– Southern Africa
– South Asia (with focus on Afghanistan)
– West and Central Africa

As Country coordinator you help local Amnesty groups to work on individual cases in “your” region, stay in contact with the full time Amnesty staff in London and are called on to provide background information on the human rights situation in the specific region.

It is a great opportunity for anyone interested in human rights in a specific region and willing to shape the campaigning work of a large international human rights NGO. Despite the rather dry job description it is actually a lot of fun, you meet a mix of interesting people throughout the UK and you have the opportunity to work substantially on a particular country.
I have been a country coordinator for Amnesty for several years, so if you want to have an informal chat about what to expect before you apply just drop Sabine an email (sabine.hoehn@amnesty.org.uk or sabine.hoehn@glasgow.ac.uk)

 

16-22nd June: Refugee Week Scotland 2014

More information here.

Scottish Refugee Council is delighted to launch the 14th Refugee Week Scotland programme – celebrating the warm welcome that Scots give to refugees seeking sanctuary from around the globe and the unique contributions refugees make to our communities.

Discover the vibrancy of Scotland’s cultures for yourself through this programme of over 120 music, theatre, dance, film, discussion, visual art, community celebrations and workshops, featuring the input of refugees from countries including Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Iran, Iraq and Sri Lanka amongst others.

 

Festival Highlights
World Refugee Day Concert, Friday 20 June, 8pm, Old Fruitmarket
Presented by Scottish Refugee Council and British Red Cross, featuring Scottish Album of the Year nominated Young Fathers, a trip-hop trio from Edinburgh via Nigeria and Liberia as well as Scottish Gaelic and Céilidh music band Skipinnish and fiery gypsy punk from Balkanarama.
Tickets: 0141 353 8000 / www.glasgowconcerthalls.com

 

Video Competition

Just writing to you to let you know of our Refugee Week Scotland video competition. The brief is simple: Create a short video around the hashtag #IWelcomeRefugees. The videos can be abstract or story based, silly or serious. There’s a few more guidelines to find here: http://bit.ly/1iwLcOL.
The winning video will be spread through our social media channels and screened as part Refugee Week Scotland in partnership with Glasgow Film Theatre.

And of course there will be amazing prizes such as shopping vouchers, music, tickets and more…

 

 

Keep up the good work!!

 

Ruth

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