Amnesty peace garden
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"'Anyone who wants to escape the mean streets of Greenwich for a few tranquil minutes, should definitely pop into this beautiful Amnesty garden in the grounds of Charlton House.", Jo Brand, speaking at the launch of the Amnesty Peace Garden |
- Jo Brand launches peace garden for Amnesty
- Women's Action Network picnic at the Peace Garden
- International Women's Day at Charlton House
Jo Brand launches peace garden for Amnesty
The hundreds of plants featured in the garden were donated by the Women's Action
Network following a fund raising campaign. The garden was designed by garden designer, and Amnesty member, Andrew Fisher-Tomlin on
the theme of harmony, using cool, soft and reflective colours. 'Portage', the sculpture by Margaret Higginson at the centre of the garden, represents
the strength and spirit of women worldwide who, throughout history, have balanced
a variety of roles. The garden also features a Japanese Peace Pole donated by
Keiko Ito from Tokyo.
Background In summer 2004, after the launch of the Stop Violence Against Women campaign,
the Women's Action Network (WAN) Committee discussed how they could strengthen
the campaign's impact. The Amnesty Peace Garden was conceived to bring together
the two major campaign themes of Stop Violence Against Women and Control Arms.
The WAN Committee were asked to contribute the cost of the new plants, and because
of generous donations we exceeded the target of £1,200. All other expenses have
been met by Greenwich Council, which will also maintain the garden in future.
Special thanks to Sue Butterfill of Greenwich Council, for organising the project. How to Get There Go to Charlton Station and either take a bus for two stops from opposite the
station, or turn right up Charlton Church Lane to Charlton Road. The grounds of
Charlton House are opposite. See a street map of the Charlton area 
The Amnesty International Peace Garden at Charlton House, Greenwich was launched on 6 July 2006 to mark the Amnesty campaigns Stop Violence
Against Women and Control Arms. It has been created as a place of tranquil retreat
and is open to the general public.
Jo was joined at the launch (from left to right in the picture) by Kate Allen,
Director of Amnesty in the UK; Councillor Harpinder Singh, Mayor of Greenwich;
Andrew Fisher-Tomlin, and Margaret Higginson.
Greenwich Council generously offered a walled garden at the side of Charlton
House, a splendid Jacobean mansion, now used as a community centre and library.
Picnic in the Amnesty Peace Garden
The Women's Action Network (WAN) held a picnic at Charlton House on 22 June,
as part of the annual Horn Fair held in the grounds. The sun shone and we had
a great day of campaigning and raising awareness.
We had a stall where people signed petitions for four cases:
- Women's equality campaigners in Iran
- The Tiananmen mothers
- Women trapped in violence by UK law
- Women with HIV/AIDS in South America
Entertainment was provided by Palestinian singer Reem Kelani, whose singing delighted
the crowd as WAN volunteers handed out SVAW balloons to children. See Reem Kelani's website for more information about her work.
International Women's Day at Charlton House
By Mary Right , Women's Action network Chair - International Women's Day was a busy one for the Women's Action network (WAN)'s Committee, when we were booked for an afternoon at historic Charlton House as part of the 400th anniversary celebrations there. A few technological blips were successfully surmounted to provide a varied programme including:
- A presentation on the Stop Violence Against Women campaign
- Zarghona Rassa's new documentary about women in Afghanistan, edited by Anne O'Connell (both Committee members)
- A dramatic team reading of Dan Jones' special version for the Women's Action network of Ariel Dorfman's play Voices From Beyond the Dark
- A comedy from Dil Khat and dances from Parvaneh and Nina Soltani
We also had the pleasure to welcome several members of the Ethiopian Women's Association. The afternoon ended with the ceremonial lighting of candles in jars, every fourth one red to represent that in the UK every fourth woman has experienced domestic violence, placed around the statue in the Amnesty Peace Garden. The statue is of a woman carrying a boat above her head, by Canadian sculptor Margaret Higginson, who has travelled this way in Canada from lake to lake as indigenous people do, and celebrates the courage, stamina and resourcefulness of women.
