To mark International Human Rights Day (Saturday 10 December) and in celebration of Amnesty’s 50th anniversary, two events will be taking place on consecutive nights at the Human Rights Action Centre, London, Shoreditch EC2.

On Friday 9 December, there will be a Festive Fayre, with various performers including; comedy from Andrew Bailey, Sara Pascoe and Attila the Stockbroker; poetry from Radio 4’s poet in residence Kate Fox; music from the Song Works choir, mince pies and mulled wine. The event is free and visitors will be encouraged to drop in, mingle and write a letter for a prisoner of conscience or other person in trouble.

Then, on Saturday 10 December, Amnesty is hosting a special 5x15 night, a renowned and established event where five eclectic speakers each speak for 15 minutes – with stories of passion, obsession and adventure recounted live with just two rules: no scripts and only fifteen minutes each. The speakers are; renowned prisoner of conscience Terry Waite, held hostage for four years; film maker Nick Broomfield on Sarah Palin; inspirational photo-journalist Giles Duley who became a triple amputee after stepping on a landmine while working in Afghanistan; award-winning Children's rights’s author Beverley Naidoo on letters from Apartheid South Africa and Craig Brown, the Private Eye Satirist.

The two events, will celebrate Amnesty’s Write for Rights campaign where people are being asked to write a hand-written letter for one of ten prisoners of conscience or other people in trouble. In modern times all variety of digital communication is used to put pressure on governments and other people in power, but in the organisation’s 50th year, Amnesty is encouraging people to return to the original letter in a “penaissance”.


Event: Festive Fayre
Time: 5-9pm  Friday 9 December
More info: www.amnesty.org.uk/fayre br /> Price: Free
Event Venue: The Human Rights Action Centre, 17 - 25 New Inn Yard, London,  EC2A 3EA


Event: 5x15 br /> Time: 7- 8.30pm Saturday 10 December
Online tickets: www.5x15stories.com br /> Price: £5
Event Venue: The Human Rights Action Centre, 17 - 25 New Inn Yard, London, EC2A 3EA