a sort of feel good event to raise the profile of the campign… but what really caught my eye was that there is a Museum of Conscience in London… must pay a visit next time I’m in town
COMMUNITIES TO UNITE BEHIND POVERTY FIGHT
By Dan Webber, Community Newswire
MONEY Poverty London, Today, 10:50am
Community groups from across the capital are today preparing to come together to help launch the Make Poverty History campaign in London.
Labour MP Oona King will join James Bond star Colin Salmon to carry the word “poverty” into the Museum of Immigration and Diversity on February 22 to symbolically consign poverty to history.
When Nelson Mandela addressed more than 20,000 people in Trafalgar Square earlier this month, he challenged people from across Britain to put pressure on world leaders to eradicate “man-made” poverty.
Adrian Lovett of Oxfam, part of the Make Poverty History coalition, said :“This meeting demonstrates how communities across London are rising to the challenge and demanding that world leaders act.
“They must put an end to the needless poverty that causes 1,200 people to die every hour of every single day.”
Susie Symes, chairman of the trustees of 19 Princelet Street, the Museum of Immigration and Diversity, based in Spitalfields, east London, said communities needed to work together to make poverty history.
She said: “For world leaders to listen, they need to hear from many voices. London has a unique richness and diversity of communities, and this meeting shows that Londoners are at the forefront in the campaign to make poverty history.
“When communities work together, they can persuade governments to act.”
Following the official launch of the campaign in London, the museum, which is normally open only to advance bookings, will open to the public and give individual’s an opportunity to find out more about the campaign.
19 Princelet Street is Europe’s first and only museum of immigration and diversity and London’s only museum of conscience. It aims to celebrate diversity and use an understanding of the past to build a better future.
Make Poverty History, a coalition of more than 200 charities, campaigns, trade unions, faith groups and celebrities, is the UK arm of the Global Call for Action Against Poverty, a network of organisations representing over 150 million people from 60 different countries. More information about the campaign is available at http://www.makepovertyhistory.org.
The launch of the Make Poverty History campaign in London will take place at 11am on February 22 at the Museum of Immigration and Diversity, 19 Princelet Street, Spitalfields, London, E1 6QH.
