Thanks to everyone involved in the creation of these updates. Your efforts are appreciated. If you prefer, you can read this as a PDF instead.
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- Urgent Action: Release gravely ill journalist Zhang Zhan
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Thank you for your support for human rights!
Welcome
At a time when fundamental rights are under threat across the globe, join Amnesty International, get involved with our local Amnesty Group and play your part in helping to promote and defend vital human rights across the world.
We warmly invite both newcomers and familiar faces alike to attend the next meeting of the Amnesty International Glasgow West Group.
This email includes:
- Details of our forthcoming August 2026 meeting
- Updates on recent and planned events and actions, including a gathering of Scotland-wide Amnesty Groups in September
- A summary of AIUK's latest Local Group updates
- The minutes from our local Group's July meeting
- A note of all our monthly meeting dates for 2026
August 2026 Glasgow West AI Group Meeting
Thursday 13th August, Woodlands Methodist Church, 7:30pm – 9pm
The Glasgow West Amnesty Group's next meeting will take place on Thursday 13th August 2026 at 7.30pm – 9pm in Woodlands Methodist Church, Woodlands Road, Glasgow, G3 6LW.
If you are curious about Amnesty International , you are very welcome to just turn up and join our meetings. We would love to see you there!
Our next meeting will include:
- A brief review of recent events;
- Discussion and planning on upcoming future events/actions; and
- Undertaking letter writing on recent Urgent Action alerts from AIUK.
Join our Meetings online
Anyone unable / unavailable to physically come along, is welcome to join our monthly meetings online via this link.
(It will be the same link for all subsequent meetings).
Events
Glasgow's Pride 2026
The Glasgow West Amnesty Group participated in the Glasgow Pride March and Festival, which took place on Saturday 18th July.
Our local Group members participated in the march and we also hosted a stall, where we discussed the work of Amnesty and encouraged those attending the event to sign a number of current Amnesty International petitions.
Glasgow to Edinburgh Fundraising Walk for Amnesty International
The Amnesty Perth Group is undertaking a fundraising walk along the route of the Millennium Canal, in a number of stages across August. Members from other groups, including Glasgow West are also participating in this event.
The link below is for the canal walk fundraising page, which is still current and donations would be hugely appreciated. All donations will go to Amnesty International UK,
https://www.justgiving.com/page/scottishamnestygroups-canalwalk
Uyghur Solidarity Month
Research by Amnesty International concluded that the Chinese Government has been undertaking systematic abuses against Muslims living in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region for several years. An estimated one million people have been arbitrarily detained and sent to internment camps or prisons as part of a campaign of subjugation and assimilation. A report by Amnesty published in 2021 set out the factual basis that the Chinese authorities had committed crimes against humanity, including imprisonment, torture and persecution.
To help raise awareness of these issues, Amnesty is running a month-long campaign, which the Glasgow Amnesty Groups are taking part in.
The photo below shows our stall at Glasgow's Kelvinbridge Market on Saturday 11th July, where our Group encouraged members of the public to engage with the Uyghur campaign.
An online event by Amnesty's Central England Network to raise awareness of the plight of the Uyghur community is taking place on 18th August, with details below. Anyone interested in this event can join the online meeting via this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83897898210
The Glasgow Daytime Group is also holding a Uyghur campaign drop-in event on Saturday 22nd August from 10.30am – mid-afternoon. This will take place in Partick Library, 305 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow, G11 6AB. Amnesty supporters and members of the public are encouraged to come along, hear more about the issues and sign the petition.
Amnesty UK Local Updates
Below is a selection of some of the issues featured in the latest monthly update for Local Groups from Amnesty UK.
You can read the full Local Groups Update on [our LGU archive](https://www.glasgowwestamnesty.org.uk/static/2026/July/df0a0d1433.html).
The Realities of Poverty in the UK
You can find out more about Amnesty UK's work on our Everyday Rights and the UK's social security system here. For more information on the specific impact of the system on marginalised communities, see the series of briefings HERE
Last month, we held a webinar on poverty in the UK – specifically looking at the disproportionate impact on certain communities (women, racialised communities, disabled people). We had a brilliant panel including Himmah, Disability Rights UK and Women's Budget Group.
Amnesty 65th Anniversary raffle
Advanced age can often leave people more vulnerable to injury, disease, and illness. But instead of living in safety, Israel's unlawful and inhumane actions in Gaza are leaving older people without access to critical healthcare, medications, food, and shelter. According to UN reporting, at least 5,100 older people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces since October 2023 – and this figure doesn't even include indirect deaths due to destroyed health infrastructure.
Despite promises made in the October 2025 ‘ceasefire', older people are still faced with unlawful attacks, severe food deprivation and the collapse of essential services. With tens of thousands suffering, there is no time to waste.
But it's not just in Gaza. Older people are living in dangers conditions in so many countries around the world. Your donation could help Amnesty International expose human rights abuses against older people; and help the campaign to ensure that older people are properly protected by international law.
Political Organising Training Programme
New sessions of our Political Organising Training are available! Through a series of practical online workshops, you will learn how to build meaningful connections in your community, hold persuasive and non-polarising conversations, grow a team of committed local leaders, and develop a strategy that makes human rights count before, during and after elections.
July 2026 Updates
Amnesty Glasgow West Group Meeting Thurs 9th July 2026
Minutes
Link to July meeting email here
- Welcome and apologies
- Attendance: Claire, Andrew, Lauren, Ken, Paolo, Cayden, Luca, Clara, Debra, Baha, Chiara, Jim, Vali, Parami, Merle
- Apologies: Neil, Carol, Kirstie, Mhairi
-
Agreement of previous meeting minutes link
Guest Speaker! Florence Oulds (she/her) Policy & Public Affairs Officer at the Equality Network
Florence spoke about what the Equality Network does as an organisation, and about the current context for trans people in Scotland and the UK.
She discussed the Supreme Court judgement and the new Code of Practice, and most importantly, the impacts these developments are having on trans people's lives and rights.
Discussion with the Group then centred on what can be done to support trans lives and rights, including lobbying politicians to influence their views regarding more inclusive policy approaches and how guidance impacts on public bodies interpreting how to apply the guidance.
- Team Updates (list of roles here):
- Treasurer
- Expenses: £28.80 postage June meeting
- Donations: /
- Balance: £1,786
- To check: All community meal expenses paid? Still to be paid Cost of new pop-up banner that is being sourced - likely to be c.£100
- Social Media & website (Lauren): promoting Farmer's Market & then Pride, followed by Uyghurs in August
- Regional/Country focus (Clara) - see later item
- Prisoner of Conscience/Individual At Risk (Mhairi) - no updates
- Not currently active: Theme Focus US Death Penalty
- Treasurer
- Updates from previous activities
- AIUK Conference in Brighton - Claire, Paolo, Clara, Baha attended, & Sue & Hollie from Edinburgh - great Scotland turnout! ; thanks to Paolo for organising Scotland stall - great to be represented & share our work
- Updates from local groups (Daytime / Glasgow Uni / AIUK)
- See newsletter
- Uyghur campaign: August = Uyghur solidarity month
- People encouraged to learn 1 word/day for the month of August. Glasgow West group's Uyghur word is “affection” (mehr)
- Arts & crafts stall at Kelvinbridge Farmers' Market Sat 11th July (10am start, 9:15/9:30 arriving for set up → 3pm) to encourage people to come and create something (fabric banner e.g. “We need mehr [/Uyghur word/] solidarity”) so we can talk to them about the Uyghur rights crisis; will also have petition / letters to local MPs
- 9.30am start: Clara (all day), Paolo (leave 12.30)
- 11-1pm: Merle
- 12pm: Cayden, Lauren
- & Carol, Emma (Uni)
-
Thanks Paolo for adding the event to our part of AIUK's Community Platform - all encouraged to sign up to it! https://community.amnesty.org.uk/t/arts-and-crafts-in-solidarity-with-uyghur/1606?u=paolog71
& Our unique link for our page: https://community.amnesty.org.uk/invites/yDcmckxwg5 - it will automatically add you to the Glasgow West group
Community video explainer video, a quick 2 minute YouTube clip helping people understand and visualise the Community: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs-Aa2xiflw
-
Urgent Appeals - Merle # of letters written during meeting: [ ] Tally for the year: [ ]
& Uyghur Word Creation!
- Pride! AIUK Pride Pack - Debra looking through the pack, preparing our stall petition for 18th July Pride in Glasgow), sharing other accessible actions, ordering leaflets/bunting
- Clara to email Glasgow Pride to ask about transparency / email (based on concerns re their sponsorship last year)
- Team work! Clara emailed Pride Outside who said they think Pride is sponsored by Coca Cola this year → Lauren made letter re Coca Cola → Claire edited to ask re. transparency in general as not actually listed any sponsors yet → Andrew emailed → no reply yet from Pride!
- Campaigns: LGBTQIA+ books being unavailable/banned in libraries and schools ; BBC trans being minimised/unfairly represented ; look for international IAR case also
- Clara (with car), Claire, Debra, Luca
- 9.30am-10am: Clara, Debra
- 10am-11.30am: Debra & Luca
- 11.30am-1pm: Debra
- 11am start of march - Boathouse at Glasgow Green: Clara, Paolo, Claire
- Clara to email Glasgow Pride to ask about transparency / email (based on concerns re their sponsorship last year)
- Updates from Scottish Activism Rep (Paolo) / Scotland-wide WhatsApp group chat
- Joint fundraiser walk/cycle Canal Glasgow –> Edinburgh, starting Sunday 2.08.26 - all welcome!
- along the towpath of the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals, total distance is 60 miles
- head off from Glasgow (Maryhill locks) to Edinburgh via Kilsyth Sunday → Falkirk Monday → ?Linlithgow
-
Group Just Giving page → AIUK Charity:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/scottishamnestygroups-canalwalk
- We are looking at setting up an information stall on a small table at Auchinstarry (Kilsyth) and the Falkirk Wheel 'en route'.
- Falkirk Wheel stall will be set up by Barrie's niece
- Looking for volunteer to bring stall/materials (leaflets/banners) to Auchinstarry for when everyone gets there, probably mid afternoon on the Sunday (Ken?!).
- Claire to give Barrie Ken's number
- The closing date for the challenge is the end of October and you can take part any time between now and then, e.g. can do different legs on different weekends - if you do that, great to let everyone know when you will be doing it so others can join you.
- Joint fundraiser walk/cycle Canal Glasgow –> Edinburgh, starting Sunday 2.08.26 - all welcome!
-
Berry picking fundraiser - Perth Amnesty have a stall at Thomas Thomson's fruit farm in Blairgowrie where people can pick as many blueberries as they want & make a donation to Amnesty. The stall dates and times are:
Tuesday 1st September - 9-1.30
Sunday 20th September - 9-12
- Scotland-wide Gathering - end of September, in Edinburgh - date tbc
-
AOB
Next meeting - Thurs 13th August 2026
- “Persuasive Conversation Activation Session” 26.04.06 - next steps?
- Persuasive Conversations Resources
- Suggestion: do a training & canvassing session with our group to encourage people to contact their new MSP to discuss HR Bill / other HR issues e.g. Thursday Aug meeting - Training 7-8, then to Kelvingrove Park for an hour?
- & Encourage all to join the recurring training sessions - link here: https://calendly.com/events-amnesty
- Glasgow West 2026 Planner.docx
- Discussion/brainstorm:
- How can we get new active members?
- How can we keep active members?
- Any suggestions for the current/new role-holders on how to conduct their role?
- Potential Speakers for 2026:
- [Refugee Action - potentially joint event with Daytime group - awaiting update from Graham in Daytime Group]
- Clara: journalist from Somalia - Clara to check his availability and if needs transport/accommodation
-
Ebba: Palestinian researcher:
https://sgsahblog.com/2025/01/27/activist-ethnography-in-palestine/
- [Amicus: after find out about Death Penalty network - admin@amicus-alj.org - Allan]
2026 Meeting Dates
New members very welcome!
The group meets every second Thursday of each month at 7.30pm - 9pm.
The meetings take place at Woodlands Methodist Church, 229 Woodlands Road, G3 6LW.
For further information contact mail@glasgowwestamnesty.org.uk
Thursday 8th January 2026Thursday 12th February 2026Thursday 12th March 2026Thursday 9th April 2026Thursday 14th May 2026Thursday 11th June 2026Thursday 9th July 2026- Thursday 13th August 2026
- Thursday 10th September 2026
- Thursday 8th October 2026
- Thursday 12th November 2026
- Thursday 10th December 2026
BETTER TO LIGHT A CANDLE THAN CURSE THE DARKNESS
