Woking
Welcome to the Woking local group of Amnesty International UK.
The Amnesty Woking Group has been meeting since the beginning of the 1980s, initially meeting in The Sovereigns pub in Woking.
A group of people writing letters will have a bigger impact, showing authorities that the prisoners of conscience are not forgotten; that there are people paying attention to their plight. Alone, we cannot change the world, but as a group, we can make a difference.
Connect with this group
When we meet
Venue: Trinity Methodist Church, Brewery Road, Woking, GU21 4LH, Surrey
Date: Every 1st Monday of each month (unless it's a public holiday, in which case it is moved to the 2nd Monday). No meeting in August.
Time: 7:30 pm.
Who we are
Keith Scott - Co-chair
Steph Maguire - Co-chair
Our campaigns
Amnesty Woking Group carried out the following activities over the years:
- Yearly street collections. Collections are more modest in more recent times but the group believe that demonstrating our commitment to human rights and bringing visibility to the work we do is invaluable. The group raises about £200 annually.
- Stalls at fêtes (such as Summer fetes) where we brought cards for people to sign and send to prisoners of conscience. Stalls have always been a good way to raise awareness of human rights
- Participated on marches in London where police officers walked by our side
- Having children at schools to write letters of support to prisoners of conscience , which Lynda organised for a number of years around Christmas time.
- More recently, the group has been working closely with local groups such as Pride in Surrey, Muslims and Chinese communities.
Our history
Lynda Shore, our member for over 40 years, volunteered to become the treasurer, a position which she still holds. It is not demanding, Lynda said. During a collection for Christian Aid in Knaphill, Lynda heard about the group and thought it worth while to get involved.
The focus of our work is defending Prisoners of Conscience or individuals/groups at risk, people who are sent to prison or are being persecuted but have not committed a crime. One of the first prisoners of conscience the group adopted was Father David from Vietnam, for whom we wrote letters to the authorities there for over 10 years to achieve his release from prison. Campaigning for human rights comes very slowly and takes a pragmatic approach, doing what we can, writing letters to authorities to fulfil their responsibilities in upholding the UN Convention on Human Rights. A pragmatic approach requires that we stay firm on our resolve when faced with things we cannot change.
The group has taken part in local marches to campaign for the rights of asylum seekers. One of our pivotal members was Barbara Elton who was a great incentiviser. Being a local person and well networked she was instrumental in spreading the word about the group and getting people to participate. For 20 years, the group was led by Ruth Breddal, during a time of a lot of change in UK politics and its impact on the work of Amnesty International.