Welcome to the Woking local group of Amnesty International UK.

We meet on the first Monday of each month at 7.30pm, at Trinity Methodist Church, Brewery Road, Woking. Some parking is available at the church and more is available at the Brewery Road car park. Meetings last about 90 minutes. We use these to plan street collections, public campaigns and discuss other activities in order to create an awareness of violations of human rights around the world.

Details of forthcoming meetings are given here, and on our Twitter account at @WokingAmnesty

The Amnesty Woking Group has been meeting since the beginning of the 1980s, initially meeting in The Sovereigns pub in Woking. 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 Chistian 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, people who are sent to prison but have not committed a crime. One of 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.

Amnesty Woking Group carried out the following activities over the years:

• Yearly street collections. In the beginning we used to gather £800. But times have changed and collections are more modest. This year the group raised about £200
• Cake stall where volunteers have faced inclement weather also did well, raising about £100. That would be difficult now with the prevalence of allergies
• Stalls at fêtes 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.

A group of people writing letter 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.