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Monthly Mailing for Amnesty UK Local Groups

Hi friend,

Welcome to your June 2026 Local Group Mailing. 🏳️‍🌈

In this month's issue we would like to share with you the Amnesty International UK Impact Report.

In addition, in this month's edition of the Local Group Mailing, you will be able to read about:

Office Led Campaigns
- Individuals at Risk
- Palantir
- Racial Justice
- Resources
Actions Across Amnesty
- Country Coordinator
- Thematic Networks
Fundraising update
Community Organising team
Learning at Amnesty UK
What you have been up to
Upcoming Dates

if you do wish to share any updates, for our April please send your entries and stories to Pip by the 24 July at the latest.

Please do get in touch with any questions or queries.

Wishing you all a lovely June!

The Local Activism Team!

Amnesty International UK Annual Impact Report

We would like to share with you
the Amnesty International UK Impact Report 2026.

This report describes the work of the Amnesty International UK Section and the work carried out or funded by the Amnesty International UK Section Charitable Trust in 2025. Amnesty International UK Charitable Trust meets its objectives primarily by making grants to the Amnesty International UK Section and the International Secretariat of Amnesty International.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Together we’ve made some important gains for human rights in 2025, defending people and communities in the UK and around the world. This was only possible because of your generosity and support.

AIUK Annual Impact Report 2025

Office Led Campaigns

Individuals at Risk

Individuals at Risk - Campaign Updates

Urgent Action:
Reveal the fate of Dad Shah

Dad Shah is the brother of well-known human rights defender, Fozia Baloch. On 21 April, he was forcibly disappeared from his home in Karachi.

Urgent Action:
Halt executions of Iranian protesters and dissidents

Since 28 February, the Iranian authorities have arbitrarily executed at least 36 individuals in politically motivated cases, including 14 people arrested in connection to the nationwide protests in January 2026.

Take Action

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IAR and Defending the Right to Protest

I wanted to share an focus of our Individuals at Risk work – supporting our Right to protest campaign including working with Defend our Juries and training and managing teams of observers who have been attending recent court dates and peaceful protests.

You may have seen recently, an important and deeply concerning update on the ongoing legal challenge to the government’s proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act. On Monday 15 June the Court of Appeal overturned the earlier High Court decision that had found the ban unlawful. This means the original proscription is reinstated: Palestine Action remains banned, and expressing support for the group continues to be treated as a criminal offence.

Amnesty UK intervened in this case because we believe this represents a serious misuse of counter-terror powers to suppress protest. We remain clear: using terrorism legislation in this way risks undermining fundamental rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Palestine Action has announced its intention to appeal to the Supreme Court. If the case proceeds, Amnesty will again seek to intervene to ensure human rights arguments are heard at the highest level.

Amnesty UK along with colleagues from the IS have been managing teams of observers at these actions, observing the position of the event and arrests.

Many gathered in solidarity, while others — including activists from Defend Our Juries — peacefully held signs, only to be arrested one by one. Their courage and commitment are a powerful reminder of why defending protest rights matters.
This is a difficult moment, but it is not the end. Now more than ever, we must speak out.

👉 Take action today:
Sign and share our petition calling on the UK government to end the prosecution of peaceful protesters.
Together, our voices can challenge this shameful chapter and push back against this erosion of our rights.

Sign the Petition

Palantir - Campaign - UPDATE

Dear Activist,

It’s been so wonderful to see so many local groups activists participate in local onboarding calls for the No Palantir in our NHS campaign. We’ve held over 20 campaign meetings, connecting existing campaigners from Healthworkers for a Free Palestine and Medact with Amnesty local groups and new activists joining the movement. If your local group or Network has any questions about how to get involved in joining or forming a local campaign to lobby your NHS Trust or ICB, please do reach out to Amika.

Last week, I joined a protest outside the NHS’ annual conference, the ConfedExpo, alongside our brilliant Manchester group. Alongside healthworkers, patients, activists and other organisations, we turned up (in the pouring rain!) to raise awareness of Palantir’s worrying influence in our health system, and to show NHS England that the local community is backing the break clause in 2027.

Pressure is mounting on the Government to make this decision. On 3 June, the cross-party House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee called for the government to terminate NHS England's contract with Palantir because the company supports "highly controversial policies and activities."

We’ve got big things planned for this campaign over summer. Keep an eye out for more updates and as always, reach out for any support or questions.

If you have any questions about how your group or Network join an existing campaign, reach out to Amika – Community Organiser, Local Activism

Detailed info on how to get started can be found in this downloadable campaign pack.

In solidarity,
Amika – Community Organiser, Local Activism

Racial Justice

FROM PREVENT TO PROSCRIPTION: COUNTER-TERRORISM & HUMAN RIGHTS

Can the UK’s counter-terrorism infrastructure ever respect our human rights? And what alternatives do we have?
This new collection of essays by some of the world’s leading experts seeks to answer these questions.

Last week, the Court of Appeal ruled that the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was lawful, overturning the High Court’s ruling earlier this year. Since the ban on Palestine Action was introduced, Amnesty International UK / We have highlighted that it is a grave misuse of sweeping counter-terrorism powers with serious consequences for human rights.
This latest development is one in a long line of examples of the UK’s Government’s counter-terror powers being misused and harming our rights. We have long called for the scrapping of Prevent, a strategy that the UK Government claims was set up to ‘stop people becoming terrorists’, but that we found has a chilling effect on human rights – disproportionately affecting Muslim communities, neurodivergent people and children.

Ahead of next month’s 20^th anniversary of the Terrorism Act 2006, we have launched a collection of essays by leading experts - Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Sultana Tafadar KC, Hilary Pilkingon and Tufyal Choudhury - looking at the UK’s counter-terror infrastructure and asking if it can ever be human rights compliant. And importantly, what could be the alternatives?

Collection of Essays

Resources

IOPT

Netanyahu is still a wanted man

While a fragile ceasefire is setting in in Gaza, we know that there can be no peace without justice and no justice without accountability. Last year the International Criminal Court put out an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu – Israel’s Prime Minister who has presided over a genocide in Gaza. Remind your community of this fact and demand his arrest by putting up these wanted posters in public spaces around your community.

You can order your poster by contacting the Activism Team.

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Social Security in the UK

EVERYDAY RIGHTS - RESOURCES

A selection of badges and Stickers can now be ordered.

ESCR Stickers - Poverty = Political Choice 15 PER SHEET
ESCR Stickers - I (heart) Everyday Rights 15 PER SHEET
ESCR Badges - Poverty = Political Choice SINGLES
ESCR Badges - I (heart) Everyday Rights SINGLES

Place your order here!

Action Across Amnesty

Country Coordinators

Country Coordinators continue to lead a huge amount of Amnesty’s case campaigning work and are always looking for more support with their campaigning. You can see the details of those campaigns in the monthly activist mailing below.

If you and your group are interested in working on IAR cases from a particular country or region the CCs brilliantly placed to support this.

You can find all of their contact information here and you can reach out to them directly to get involved in campaigning on the cases they are prioritising or on any other case you might be interested in.

You can also contact the Activism team directly to request access to a casefile to work on with your group: activism@amnesty.org.uk

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Country Coordinator Recruitment

Ever fancied being a Country Coordinator?
Now is the time to apply!

Country Coordinators

Amnesty International Country Coordinators are volunteer activists who specialise in Human Rights campaigning for specific countries around the world.
Together, these activists make up the Country Coordinator Forum, and lead our country-focused campaign and advocacy work in the UK, supported by research and further expertise from the International Secretariat.

Current vacancies:

Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar
Indonesia, Timor L’est, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands (role share)
UAE, Qatar, Oman
Iran
Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Ghana & Democratic Republic of the Congo
Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal
Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco and Western Sahara
Pakistan

The information and application forms for all available roles can be found here and the deadline to apply is 23:59 on the 12th of July!

Apply!

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Asia - China

This August, Amnesty International UK is launching Uyghur Solidarity Month: a volunteer-led campaign weaving together language, art, and activism in solidarity with Uyghur people.

Every day in August, you'll receive a daily newsletter delivering one Uyghur word donated by an Uyghur creative or cultural leader, one spotlight on Uyghur artistic work, one creative output from our network of thirty local activist groups - think digital murals, knitting stunts, community meals!! - and one clear, practical action that YOU can take for Uyghur rights.

The month culminates in a London showcase on 31 August, marking the anniversary of the UN OHCHR report on the Uyghur crisis, with live traditional music, community voices, and an exhibition of everything we've built together.

This is grassroots solidarity at its most creative and we'd love you to join us.
Share the link with your mailing lists, activists, and communities - and don't forget to join us yourselves.

For information and contact Emily Upson and Clara Candat-Bazile - or find visits our Amnesty Community Platform

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Take Part in the Uyghur Solidarity Month

Country Coordinator - UK

Hello everyone,

For the first time in the history of Amnesty there is a Country Coordinator for the UK, and this is the first newsletter. I am very honoured to have been given the role and will do my best to make it effective - but- Why do we need a Coordinator for the UK you might ask, and Why now?

Here’s why! – There is increasing evidence that human rights in the UK are under serious threat and there is a worrying steady slide towards authoritarianism that threatens our democracy. We have evidence of: -

• Increasing restriction and criminalisation of protest.

Erosion of democracy with increasing use of secondary legislation and statutory instruments taking power away from Parliament and giving it to the Executive.

   •      Increasing use of multiple big databases where our highly personal information is gathered and shared. We can’t know who accesses it, what exactly is on it or what it is being used for.
   •      Facial recognition and surveillance used alongside AI to inform decisions made about us, despite well documented flaws in the technology.
   •      A rise in racism which is becoming “normal” and is seldom challenged.

We need to know about these frightening developments. We need to help others to know what is going on. We need to turn our concerns into actions.

You or your local group can opt in on the Amnesty website and Community Platform to receive Actions, Campaigns and Updates on the UK.

We need to turn our concerns into actions, and for that I will need your help.

We invite you to read the full UK Human Rights Newsletter.

For more information contact Elena Fowler - United Kingdom Country Coordinator

Read the full Newsletter

Thematic Networks

UN - Network

Stop mass atrocities – Stop abuse of UN Security Council veto
Embassy Crawl - London, Saturday 5 September 2026

Join us for a day of rallies calling on the five permanent members of the Security Council – China, France, Russia, UK & US – to stop using their veto power to block action aimed at stopping mass atrocities. We start at the Chinese Embassy in the morning and will go on to the embassies of France, Russia and the US, finishing at the FCDO – and winding the day up with a meal together.

If you aren’t able to spend the whole day with us, you can choose to participate at just one or so of the rallies.

Further details will be confirmed in July/August 2026. In the meantime please contact amnestyunnetwork@gmail.com to let us know you’d like to join and for more information.

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Queer Rights Network

Support Amnesty’s Queer Rights Network campaign against creeping library censorship

As you might be experiencing in your communities, the UK is experiencing a wave of censorship in our public and school libraries, especially on books or displays with LGBTQI+ themes. In some cases, this is the result of direct instruction from management or local authorities - Index on Censorship have documented that 53% of school librarians have been asked to remove books and a third of public libraries have been asked to censor their collections. In other cases, the chilling effect of anti-rights violence and pressure is causing libraries to self-censor, desperate not to attract attention and attacks.

Library staff and LGBTQI+ communities are sounding the alarm and need our support. The creeping pressure that seeks to erase experiences, voices and lives from our shelves and from public life must be met and countered.

Amnesty Queer Rights Network's "Reading for Resistance" campaign asks libraries and bookshops to sign up to a covenant that unifies them in solidarity in their determination to be safe and representative spaces. Can you help by asking your local library and bookshops to become one of the founding signatories of the Queer Stories Covenant? Ask them to sign up here . They’ll receive a poster to display proudly in their window and be part of a vibrant network against censorship of any kind.

🏳️‍🌈 For more information please see our Pride Pack for 2026.
and/or Join the Queer Rights Network

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Amnesty Feminist Network

Right now, women and girls' rights are under horrific and systemic attack. Women from Afghanistan, as well as Sudan, Myanmar and Cameroon, who have worked tirelessly to achieve offers to UK universities are now being denied the opportunity to study under the UK government’s new visa ‘brake’ policy.

This ‘emergency visa brake’ will not stop those in danger from seeking their right to safety and asylum; it is designed to stop people in danger from accessing their right to asylum. This policy is therefore not only cruel and ineffective but undermines the UK’s obligations under international human rights law.

Call on the Home Secretary to immediately reverse the decision to put a brake on student visas from Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar and Cameroon.

The #RiseWithAfghanWomen Campaign is led by the Amnesty Feminist Network. To find out more about the campaign and how to get involved, please follow us on Instagram @amnestyfeminists or email Amnesty Feminist Network

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Join our Thematic Networks

Join Amnesty UK's specialist networks and projects focused on Trade Unions, gender rights, gender identity and sexuality, children’s human rights, anti-racism, disabled people's human rights and the death penalty.

Our networks are activist led, bringing together experience and expertise from across the Amnesty movement to campaign for human rights change in their areas of focus.

Join Our Networks:

Join the Urgent Action Network

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Anti-Racism Network Committee Recruitment

Ever fancied being on the Anti-Racism Network Committee?
Now is the time to apply!

Anti-Racism Network

We are recruiting for multiple new committee members to join the Anti-Racism Network. We are looking for committed individuals who have a passion for justice and equality and are open to learning new skills and leading our anti-racism movement.

Committee members work alongside Amnesty UK staff and our other activists, as well as external organisations and groups, to run campaigns, put on events and organise on a range of human rights issues both globally and domestically.

We are action-oriented doers! We are currently running one major campaign, “Drained”, about ending UK complicity in human rights abuses associated with mineral extraction in the DRC. We are also planning to launch a second campaign on tackling the far right in the UK.

Please note, committee members cannot undertake primary research.
We are asking applicants to apply to be on either one of these campaign teams so we know how many committee members we will have working on each campaign. There will be opportunities to get involved in the other campaign and in other activities we do.

Does this sound up your street? Apply to join the committee now!

Current vacancies:

Committee member (multiple roles)
Social Media Lead

The information and application forms for all available roles can be found here and the deadline to apply is 23:59 on the 12th of July!

Apply!

April Fundraising Update

Individual Giving

YOUR GIFT TODAY COULD HELP END THE SUFFERING OF MILLIONS

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.

GIVE TODAY

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Local Group Fundraising Update

Local Group Fundraising Update - June 2026

This month's update features news on a collaborative dance fundraiser and a street collection from the Orkney Group that managed to buck the trend of declining takings from public collections. Read on to fund out how they did it and how you can too!

June Fundraising Report

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Community and Events Fundraising

With the Spring sunshine and the buzz of the London Marathon, along with the very evident continuing need for Amnesty’s work given the world situation, now feels like a powerful moment to say we would love to have any supporters come and run for rights as part of Team Amnesty and raise vital funds for our work.

We have our biggest ever teams in two exceptional sell-out Autumn half marathons, and what’s more, we currently have 50% off registration fees for these events:

Royal Parks Half Marathon- Sunday 11 October - a team of 300 human rights defenders
Big Half Marathon - Sunday 6 September - a team of 150 human rights defenders

Places are going quickly, so sign up whilst places last! You can learn more and sign up here: Sign up to run with Team Amnesty

If you sign up, we provide an Amnesty running vest, fundraising materials and tips, and access to a bespoke training plan from a running coach dependent on your current running level, so no prior experience is needed.
If you aren’t a runner but know someone who is, please do pass this opportunity on to them and we also love to welcome one and all to our event day cheer points to show the runners the tlc they deserve. If you have any questions you can message/email me or anyone in the Community and Events Fundraising Team team@amnesty.org.uk

Sign up to run with Team Amnesty!

Community Organising

AGM 2025 Decision update - June 2026

Every three months it is intended to update groups on progress towards the implementation of resolutions passed at Amnesty AGMs. These are now known as AGM Decisions and details of these can be found at on our website: AIUK AGM

Each AGM Decision is allocated to a Section Board member who works with the proposer of the resolution and Amnesty UK staff on their implementation. At the above website address the document called ‘Update on the Implementation of AGM Decisions’ will be revised every month to include developments as they occur. This is the best source of information if groups wish to be kept abreast of developments. That document has now been updated to include the resolutions which were passed at the 2025 AGM. It will be further updated following the 2026 AGM to include any resolutions which are passed.

Since the last update in the Groups Newsletter in January 2026:

Following the 2025 AGM there were 27 AGM decisions for implementation. As of 1 June 2026, 9 have been fully implemented, 5 have been closed (i.e. not fully implemented for a number of possible reasons but no further work will be undertaken) and 13 remain open and will be reported on at the 2027 AGM. Some of these may be closed following the 2026 AGM as they are dependent on activities or reports taking place at the AGM.
A further 2 decisions have resulted in motions being drafted for the Global Assembly in August 2026. It is hoped these will be passed successfully by the international movement.
As required by Decision 07, 2025 (Improving engagement and communication between activists and the Board of Amnesty UK), a system has been established for networks and forums to report on their activities to the Section Board. Each Section Board meeting now has one of these reports as its first substantive item.
The Working Group to review the Activists Code of Conduct Complaints Process has completed its work and elections for members of the panel will be held at the 2026 AGM.
Work will continue with a view to implementing of all outstanding AGM Decisions. Some of these cannot be completed until the implementation of aspects of the Digital Transformation work has been completed.

If you have any queries regarding the Decisions, please email me using the address below.
Stuart Penny -Vice Chair Amnesty UK Section Board

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Community Platform Launch 🎉

27th April: Launch of the Amnesty Community

We are excited!

The Online Platform the Amnesty Community has launched on 27 of April!

The Community Platform will offer a much more effective way to connect with other Amnesty Activists and Amnesty staff and strengthen the movement.

What will happen on the Amnesty community?

Join groups, networks or campaigns
Post and receive updates and announcements
Contact other activists
Share or find activist created resources
Find or share activist events in shared calendar

Who will be on the Amnesty community?

Local groups
University groups
Country Coordinators
Thematic Networks
Regional networks
Activist and Staff campaigners
Amnesty staff

What we’re asking you to do
Please read and share the flyer with your active members and encourage them to read it and join Community to explore and find out more.

Come and join us! 🙌

Join the Community Platform

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Digital Transformation

This document outlines Amnesty UK’s Digital Transformation Programme, which is improving systems, tools, and online spaces to better support activism, campaigning, and collaboration. It explains key developments such as replacing the CRM, launching a new website, creating a Knowledge Hub, and introducing the Amnesty Community platform

It also clarifies how the website and Community platform serve different roles, why content like blogs and events has moved, how resources are divided between staff and activists, and how the platform ensures safety and accessibility. Finally, it highlights ongoing improvements, plans, and practical updates such as website changes and search functionality.

Digital Transformation Update

General Communications

Activist Essential Training - Reminder

If you are a Lead Activist or a Community Platform Moderator and for compliance reasons you have to complete three essential trainings.

GDPR
Safeguarding
IDEA (IDEA is optional to complete for CP moderators).

Please contact Charlotte Vigueur at [insert email address] so you can be added on the e-learning platform Moodle if you are either a Lead Activist or a Community Platform Moderator.

We've created an explainer video on how to get on Moodle, please watch in here for clearer instructions: Clipchamp

Policy: Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in AIUK Activist

The purpose of this policy is to be clear how Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used by Amnesty International UK (AIUK) in the course of its work in ways that mean the tools are selected and used appropriately, securely, and ethically. It also establishes oversight and monitoring measures to support legal compliance and effective policy management.

This policy applies to anyone employed by AIUK as well as paid contractors, volunteers under instruction from AIUK, members of both AIUK Boards and any Board sub-committees, consultants or suppliers when using Artificial Intelligence tools for AIUK organisational purposes.

Thank you!

Use of AI Policy

Guide on using Pictures and Photos in outgoing communication

We are facing an increase in copyright holders (and third parties acting on their behalf) pursuing Amnesty with costly copyright claims across sites that are affiliated to AIUK or use our branding. These take time to review and deal with and can leave Amnesty liable to high costs that could be avoided. It is important to credit and renumerate photographers, even when use of their work is for educational or campaigning purposes.

The rule of thumb is: Don’t use any image unless:

you know where it comes from (the original source) and
that source has directly given you permission to use it OR has said that it is OK for the pic to be used for your purposes (e.g. some ‘free’ photography suppliers might say it is OK to use a pic for editorial purposes, but not for fundraising purposes. Best read the small print).

Please don’t use any images from Amnesty’s websites, social media accounts, emails or print publications that are from Getty, Alamy, AFP or any other photo agency. These images generally have a ‘© Getty’ credit or similar next to them and have not been licensed for use by Amnesty groups.

Photos that are credited ‘© Amnesty International’ (or similar) are generally fine to use.

Please audit your websites and blogs and remove all pictures that you do not have explicit permission to use.

New office Address

Please see below the New office address for Amnesty International UK

Amnesty International United Kingdom Section
2nd Floor, Peter Benenson House
1 Easton Street
London
WC1X 0DW

Your Local Group Mailing

If you would like to message Amnesty supporters in your Local Area, you can do this by requesting a Your Local Group mailing - YLG to be sent to out.

Requesting a Your LG Mailing to invite members and supporters in your region.

To request the mailing please email Activism team activism@amnesty.org.uk

Advising them the Post codes you wish to send the mailing to
When you are looking to send out the mailing (date). Please note that we normally require a notice of 7-10 workdays
Provide the Blurb and any links and images you wish to share

Important note on timeline of requesting Your LG Mailings:
If you are looking to advertise an event with Your LG Mailing, we recommend for the mailing to be sent about 1 week prior to the event. As we require a notice period of 7-10 workdays to schedule a mailing, we kindly ask for Your LG Mailings to be requested ideally 3 weeks prior to the event.

Bank Account Set Up for Amnesty Local Groups

Please note that it has come to our attention that, over the past month, several banks and building societies have started charging interest on bank accounts held by Amnesty Local Groups. This unfortunately now also includes previously recommended NatWest and Co-Operative Bank

We are very sorry if your local group has been affected by this issue. Although we do not currently have specific guidance on which banks or building societies align with Amnesty's values and ethical finance policies, we would like to share the following link Compare Free Business Bank Accounts UK | BusinessComparison

Please do share with us any recommendations of banks that do not charge interest or banking fees!

Thank you Pip

Learning at Amnesty UK

This month the Human Right's Education team is highlighting one new course and two trainings opportunities!

Political Organising Training Programme

Our Political Organising Training Programme has made a whole range of new training dates available, so if you missed some sessions in the spring or are completely new there are now lots of options to come and learn with us. We also have a few new sessions on how to campaign effectively, how to build leadership within your team and how to motivate people to action.

Sign up for the Training

What you have been up to

Reading Amnesty Group

Some of the Reading Group members came together to walk & take photos in iconic places around Reading.

We did this to show our support for refugees and people seeking asylum and to mark this year's Refugee Week, to say Refugees and People Seeking Asylum are very welcome in our town.

Thanks to the Manchester Group for this idea and to this newsletter for sharing good ideas!!

📷

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

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Wirksworth Amnesty Group

Despite a soggy Saturday 6 June, the Wirksworth and District Amnesty International Group's famous plant stall raised nearly £600 for Amnesty, with signatures for the release of arbitrarily detained British national Ahmed al-Doush collected.

🙏

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

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Kent Network - Tunbridge Wells

For Refugee Week, a newest members of the Amnesty Kent Network - Heidi Shapton, took the lead on a film viewing event. She did a fantastic job!

✊🏽

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

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Taunton Amnesty Local Groups

Members of the Taunton Group with local MP Gideon Amos

The Taunton Amnesty group took part in a Big Green Fayre organized by the local council to bring togther organizations and compaines with an environmental angle.

The Group asked attendees to sign petitions on behalf of the Billie people in the Niger Delta and imprisoned members of the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia. We were supported by many people including our MP Gideon Amos, shown here.

✊🏽

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

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Minehead Amnesty Group

The Minehead Group had a successful and sociable afternoon on 12 May, when ten members of the Group met at the Beach Hotel to write letters about a variety of current cases of concern. Between them they wrote 41 individual letters to the authorities about human rights in Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Turkiye, El Salvador and Cuba.

They also signed pre-prepared letters from the whole group to M&S and Next about the South Asia garment workers, and to our MP about Afghan study visas. Thanks again to Cherry for preparing the case notes for us and to Peter for providing the stamps. Here’s a picture showing the group at work.

Lorena was the 10th person and is unfortunately missing from this picture. Lorena has been busy trying to raise awareness of Amnesty and recently gave a talk to guests where she works. Well done to her.

🙏

Read the full Minehead Newsletter

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Fylde Amnesty Group

On Saturday 6 June, members of the Fylde Amnesty Group joined the 20th anniversary of Blackpool Pride

🏳️‍🌈
__________

Stockport Amnesty Group

The Stockport Group held a successful AmnesTea for Refugee Week.

Over 30 guests gathered over a cream tea to hear from a young woman from Iran about her journey to Refugee status and rebuilding her life in the UK.
They raised over £260.

🙏

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

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Edinburgh Central Amnesty Group

The Edinburgh Central Group ran a petition 6 and 7 June at The Meadows Festival for the Saudi activist Manahel who is currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.

They garnered over 200 signatures to secure visiting rights for Manahel so her deteriorating health can be assessed. Lindsay has forwarded the petition to local MPs and MSPs who have been supportive of the campaign.

🙏
The Edinburgh Central Group also held a stall at Edinburgh Pride on 20 June.

🏳️‍🌈

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

__________

Sheffield Amnesty Group

In June, Amnesty Sheffield participated in the Hope Against Oil panel event at Sheffield DocFest, following a screening of Hope Is a Word.

The documentary focuses on poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey in Nigeria's Niger Delta, where oil extraction has devastated communities. The subsequent panel discussion brought together activists, legal experts, and community organisers to discuss environmental justice and ongoing accountability efforts against companies profiting from human rights abuses.

Amnesty Sheffield's stall focused on Shell's contamination of residents' water supply in Bille, calling on the Nigerian Government to take action and ensure accountability.

The event demonstrated how local groups can connect community members with global human rights issues, to campaign together on them.

✊🏽

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

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York Amnesty Group

Amnesty York once again took part in the amazing York Pride on Saturday 30 May.

It was colourful, busy and hot!

They had had interactive artworks on behalf of LGBT groups in Turkey and Hungary, and an Urgent Action for Turkey.

🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🎉

In response to their action the Budapest pride team send a wonderful reply to the York Amnesty Group

"On behalf of the entire Budapest Pride team, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for creating the poster and supporting our work.
We truly appreciate the time, creativity, and effort that went into it. It means a great deal to us to have the support of partners who share our commitment to human rights, equality, and inclusion.
Thank you for standing with us and helping amplify the message of this year's Pride. Your contribution helps make our work more visible and strengthens the sense of solidarity within our community.
We are incredibly grateful for your support and look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future. 🌈
Best regards,
the Organizers of Budapest Pride"

****

Refugee Week - York

On 17 June, as part of Refugee Week, Amnesty York and Friends of the Earth made a campaigning installation on the Millennium Bridge over the Ouse near Rowntree Park.

The theme was “Courage” - courage to leave your country, sometimes for environmental reasons, and courage for us to receive the asylum-seekers well. Passersby wrote messages of support for refugees on hexagons placed, like a quilt, on a “sea” background.

✊🏽

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Colwyn Bay Amnesty Group

On Sunday the 14 June members of Amnesty Colwyn Bay attended a counter protest outside Conwy Council offices.

Together with members of "Intersectional Uprising", "North Wales Mutual Aid" and "Someone I Knew", they protested to counter the voices of racist, anti-migrant and anti-rights protesters that were gathering that morning.

The events passed peacefully with speeches on both sides, and some respectful conversations between the protest groups.

The event was reported in the local newspaper North Wales Pioneer.

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

Read the article here

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Cardigan and North Pembrokeshire Amnesty Group

The Cardigan and North Pembrokeshire Group held their annual AmnesTea event at Clynfw Care Farm.

Although the weather was not as good as previous years we were blessed with some sunshine and that drew out a large crowd.
As usual many attendees were looking to make a purchase from the excellent selection of plants on sale alongside books and bric-a-brac.

Music was provided by the Spring Chickens and there was a delicious range of cakes to accompany teas and coffees.

As well as raising awareness of Amnesty’s work, focusing on Palestine, £1,539 was raised.

🙏

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

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Mid-Warwickshire Amnesty Group

The Mid-Warwickshire Amnesty Group hosted a stall at the very well attended Leamington Peace Festival held over the weekend of 13 & 14 June.

It was a really successful event where we engaged with a lot of attendees raising awareness of Amnesty and human rights and involving them in several actions and petitions including Palantir and several IAR actions. The one photo is of the peace tree that kids decorated.

🙏

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Harrogate & Knaresborough Amnesty Group

Come Dine with Palestine Supper

Our group hosted an event on 23 May at the Friends Meeting House in Harrogate, featuring a Palestinian supper and a talk by Hilary Davies about her experiences as an EAPPI observer in the West Bank.

We were delighted that 46 people attended, enjoying the wonderful food prepared by Hilary’s great team of volunteers and her personal talk, illustrated with her slides, was very informative and thought-provoking.

All the hard work by everyone paid off as we were able to donate £690 to the Hebron International Resource Network, who give essential support to farmers in the Jordan Valley.

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Open Garden at Norton Conyers 🙏

On Sunday 14 June the Harrogate & Knaresborough Group held our annual Open Garden at Norton Conyers, near Ripon, by kind permission of Sir James and Lady Halina Graham, with all proceeds going to Amnesty funds.

We were delighted that the rain stayed away and our many visitors were able to enjoy the lovely walled garden, with tea and delicious home-made cakes provided by our brilliant team of helpers. Altogether we raised over £1,000 for Amnesty and collected 50 signatures on a letter to the Foreign Secretary in support of a prison visit for our prison of conscience in Saudi Arabia, Manahel al-Otaibi.

In addition to the above events, we have held our monthly letter writing sessions at St Peter’s Church in Harrogate, so we have been quite busy!

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Forthcoming event 🍉

📅 Thursday 30 July 2026
🕑 7:00pm - Onwards
📍 Friends Meeting House - 12 A Queen Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5PP
🎫 Donations are welcome!

We are looking forward to a talk from Tom Gordon, Lib Dem MP for Harrogate & Knaresborough, on Thursday 30 July at 7pm at the Friends Meeting House, Queen Parade, Harrogate.

Tom is a great supporter of Amnesty and will talk about Gaza, his work on the Joint Committee for Human Rights, his trip to the UN in Geneva and his conversation with the refugee commissioner, all topics of immense interest to our members and the broader public.

There will be a small charge to cover costs and, as always, our great team of bakers will provide tea and home-made cakes to raise money for Amnesty funds. All welcome, booking not required.

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

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Warrington Amnesty Group

Plant and Book Sale

The Warrington Group held a plant and book sale in the drive of one of the group member's houses.

It was promoted locally with posters in the local shop, church and village hall and flyers through neighbours' letter boxes and on the garden wall! Although scheduled to last for two hours from 10.30am on the second May Bank Holiday Monday, people came to buy until 3pm in the afternoon and an amazing £534.60 was raised for the work on Amnesty. 🙏

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Warrington Refugee Day 20 June

Refugee Day

A stall to mark Refugee Day on 20 June was set up in the town centre by the Warrington Group.

It attracted some attention and discussion from passers-by who were asked to record on a long sheet of paper the two items that they would take if they had to leave in a hurry. People also wrote a message of support and hope to refugees on paper shaped as either a rucksack or suitcase and popped it into a backpack on the stall. The results were given to a local refugee group through a contact of one of the group members. ✊🏽

Come and visit up on the Community Platform!

Upcoming Events

Bury St Edmunds - Music Event

WORDS AND MUSIC FOR A FAIRER WORLD

Saturday 4 July from 2pm - 4pm sees the presentation by Bury St Edmunds Amnesty International of “Words and Music for a Fairer World” at the Quaker Meeting House, Bury St Edmunds, St John’s Street.

📅 Saturday 4 July 2026
🕑 2:00pm - 4:00pm
📍 Quaker Meeting House - St John's Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1SJ
🎫 Donations are welcome!

A talented group of five local writers and actors will perform a series of humorous readings at 2pm-3pm, each session lasting no more than for half an hour.
In the interlude the Clifford's Trio, consisting of Gav Milnthorpe on trombone, Chris Thorpe on trumpet and Chris Hull on keys, will play jazz standards in the foyer.

Light refreshments will be available throughout the afternoon in the Garden Room, where interested members of the public can also find out more about Amnesty’s work.

There is no charge and no need to book but cash donations will be invited for Amnesty International to offset costs of the event and to raise funds for Amnesty’s human rights work. We welcome all, whether for the whole event or for a short visit.

Contact for Bury St Edmunds Amnesty Group: Avril Dawson, Chair

Condolences 🖤

Shine On - Host a Vigil

Amnesty International UK works to shine a light onto injustice and inequality and to ensure basic rights are protected and upheld, whenever they are under threat. Amnesty’s work is only possible thanks to its supporters, past and present and we want to pay tribute to everyone who is part of our history, and our future.

This is why we launched our Shine On vigils. This gives you the opportunity to pay tribute to those no longer with us, keeping their memory alive through our ongoing human rights work.

How it works:
Shine On has everything you need to host a heartfelt vigil, physically or online.

Visit www.shineon.org.uk to order your physical or digital vigil toolkit.
Alongside your toolkit, you’ll receive a welcome email and point of contact to support you every step of the way.
Using our toolkit including a simple how-to-guide, organise your vigil to commemorate your loved one and fundraise to support Amnesty as you do so.

If you have any questions or queries, you can get in touch
with shineon@amnesty.org.uk

Order your Vigil Kit

A Petition a Week

A petition about human rights in the UK and beyond, into your inbox every week. Together we can make a difference.

If you would like to sign up, either individually or as group, go to apetitionaweek.substack.com/subscribe and feel free to get in touch with me at apetitionaweek@outlook.com.

Thank you!

Please see here full list of Petitions

Upcoming Dates

See more on the Amnesty Events page. Post your events on the website via this link.

4 July 2:00pm - 4:00pm - In person Event hosted by Bury St Edmunds Open Music Event: "All are Welcome"

30 July 7:00pm - Onwards - In person Event hosted by Harrogate & Knaresborough Open Speaker Event: "All are Welcome"

For updates and event hosted by Local Group, Thematic Networks, and Country Coordinators, please do explore our Community Platform!

We also invite you to join our upcoming Political Training Session. Register for one, some or all of our training Modules

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