The Minehead Group was pleased to welcome the Mayor and Deputy Mayor to their letter writing stall on 7 December.



Each year,our group takes part in Amnesty's Write for Rights Campaign.This year we were asked to send messages of solidarity or to write an appeal letter targeting the authorities on behalf of 13 different people or groups in 13 different countries around the world. In 2013, there were three opportunities for local people to take part in this campaign.



(1) We held a letter writing afternoon on Thursday 28 November in the Quaker Meeting House on Bancks Street in Minehead. Information about the cases and guidance on what to right in cards or letters were available and refreshments were provided to help keep up writers' energy levels! At the end of the afternoon 41 letters and cards were ready for posting



(2) On the morning of 7 December, the Saturday nearest  International Human Rights Day on 10 December, we had a letter and card signing stall outside the Red Cross Shop on The Avenue, Minehead. We selected four cases from the campaign booklet and collected over 100 signatures on the cards and letters being sent in connection with these four cases.



(3) From 4 to 8 December our Amnesty Tree was on display in the Minehead Avenue Methodist Church, as part of the annual Christmas Tree Festival. Details of cases from the Write for Rights Campaign were available beside our tree for people to take away and take action on.



We were delighted with the support we received at the street stall and also at the letter writing afternoon. We also received lots of complimentary remarks about the Amnesty Christmas tree.