SPEAK out for injustice

The Journey students have been getting active at Royal Holloway Student's Union with SPEAK's Big Dress campaign... a photographer & journalist from the local Egham & Staines Informer weekly paper came along in the morning to cover the story... below is the press release for the event.

Press Release

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Royal Holloway students help make biggest dress in theworld for Trade Justice

The student union was buzzing this morning as students from RoyalHolloway University of London helped make the biggest dress in the world as a creative petition calling for Trade Justice.

The SPEAK Network is making the dress to highlight exploitation of people and the environment in the garment industry and biased world trade rules that uphold these atrocities.

The world record breaking Big Dress is a creative petition – a visual challenge to our government to put legislation in place that holds UK based multinational companies accountable for their actions in the societies and environments they operate in.

Students wrote messages on patches of material calling for trade rules to be re-written in favour of the poor so that exploitation such as in the garment industry will no longer be left unchecked. Their squares will contribute to the total 10 000 that people from all over the UK have written, sewn and drawn messages of concern on. Once completed the dress will be four storeys high and displayed at the Houses of Parliament where members of SPEAK will lobby their MPs about the issues.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Anita Roddick (founder of the Body Shop) have shown their support for the campaign by signing a square. Anita Roddick wrote “This issue is one of the most important in these times”.

The shocking conditions of ‘sweatshops’ and the revelation of child labour has increasingly come to the public’s attention in the last few years. Charles Kernighan and the Commission for Labor Rights found that a well known high street store demands that workers work flat out to produce a shirt for them in 6.6 minutes. They pay 8 cents for that work and sell the shirt for $22.99 in the States. Workers are unable to support their families and have a decent quality of life earning so little. They are often forced to work long hours.

Local SPEAK campaigner Tom Tora said “We wouldn’t stand for working in these conditions ourselves so why are we allowing British companies to get away with these human-rights abuses overseas?”

The launch of the Big Dress campaign will be in the centre of London on February 21st 2005 with the completion of the dress soon after. SPEAK is a member of the Trade Justice Movement and Corporate Responsibility Coalition (CORE Coalition) along with Christian Aid and Traidcraft.

SPEAK is a network connecting students and young adults to campaign and pray on issues of global injustice. Through bringing change to situations of injustice, we aim to share our faith in our creator: God. SPEAK is a member of the Trade Justice Movement, and co-operates and works together with Tearfund, Christian Aid and World Vision.

Speak are an organisation funded by gifts & donations, currently they are raising finance to assist in making the BIg Dress and taking it on tour.  Any donations would be welcome, so click to make a donation.