Bournville Group

What happens at meetings?

Our monthly meetings are where we plan future activities and assess the pros and cons of past activities. We also work on several specific campaigns which Amnesty International UK coordinates nationally. We hear from speakers about issues which affect our work and which enhance our knowledge of the area of human rights.

When do meetings take place?

Our monthly meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month. We meet at 7.30pm at Bournville Friends' Meeting House, Linden Road, Bournville. For more information about forthcoming meetings please see our 'future' page.

Speakers

Speakers are invited to most meetings, enabling us to expand our knowledge of the work of specific departments of Amnesty International or related organisations.

Recent topics for discussion have included the death penalty and a programme at the University of Central England which sends UK law students to work on death penalty appeals with US law firms. Jane Officer, co-founder of the Amicus programme spoke about its development and current projects.

We have learnt about the background and current plans of Birmingham University's Centre for the Study of Global Ethics with which we are developing links.

We are involved in lobbying Parliament in this country (on issues such as the export of arms and equipment that is known to be used for torture in certain countries, or on issues such as UK asylum law). We are in regular contact with Selly Oak MP, Lynne Jones (Labour), who has attended several meetings and taken up our concerns.

We have heard the stories of refugees from the Xinjiang Province in China, where the group's adopted prisoner comes from.

Specific campaigns

We currently have members of the group coordinating activities on arms control and torture. This means they receive information from Amnesty International UK which outlines work that needs to be done and plan how the group can address these issues. Often this is in the form of letter writing.