Medway Human Rights Network

On 18th September 2015 the Medway Human Rights Network was launched as an initiative of the Human Rights Office.

There have been no new public meetings because of the pandemic, but a public meeting will be planned in 2024.

A public event of the Medway Human Rights Network took place at the Sunlight Centre in Gillingham on 15th September 2018, 10am-1pm, with the title “Get to know your own human rights better”. After an Introduction to Human Rights Law workshops were held discussing several examples of human rights cases in the UK.

In 2017 several of the connected organisations of the Medway Human Rights Network were involved in the Art, Wellbeing and Human Rights Project of the Human Rights Office.

On Saturday 12th November 2016 a public event was held at the Sunlight Centre in Gillingham, entitled Magna Carta 1216 and the Human Rights Act. There were talks and discussions about the importance of the re-issue of the Magna Carta on 12/11/1216 by William Marshal as Governor for King Henry III and the link with modern human rights issues, in particular the importance of the Human Rights Act. Also there was an appearance by the Knights of Medway.

On Saturday 18th June 2016 a Public Open Day of the Network was held at the Sunlight Centre in Gillingham. There were presentations by organisations connected to the Network and stalls with information about their work. Also there was a talk with discussion about the human rights side of the presented work.

The aims of the Network are:

  • Getting to know more about the work done by organisations and people connected to the Network
  • Creating a bigger network by bringing in the networks of the connected organisations and supporters
  • Achieving more attention from the public for work related to human rights matters by presenting the Network as a combined group
  • Work together to show people that it is in everybody’s interest that human rights are protected and realised in practice
  • Presenting the Network as an umbrella organisation, while maintaining the independence of the connected organisations.

The organisations connected to the Network are:
1. Medway Youth Council
2. Physical Folk
3. Friends of Amnesty International
4. Medway Speakers’ Corner
5. Medway Stand Up to Racism/Medway Trades Union Council
6. PowerHouse
7. News in Medway/Combat Stress/Help for Heroes/Royal British Legion
8. Rochester Film Society
9. Medway Inter Faith Action
10.Sunlight Development Trust
11. Medway City of Sanctuary
12. Knights of Medway                                                                                          13. Amnesty International Kent Network

Below are summaries of the work of the connected organisations.

MEDWAY YOUTH COUNCIL

Medway Youth Council was launched as Medway Youth Parliament on 1st April 1999. Young people from the ages of 10 to 19 can become members. It is an independent organisation that provides a link between young people and adults who run services for young people in the Medway Towns.
The aim of the forum is to get the voices of young people heard and to make sure that young people are consulted on issues that concern them and around services that they use. Medway Youth Council runs campaigns around issues that are brought to the group and that affect young people; for example young people say there is a need for better careers advice.
There are committees within MYC that work on separate issues: Health and Wellbeing, Community Issues and Young People’s Futures.
Every year MYC runs a youth conference around an issue that young people think needs to be addressed. MYC members organise and run the whole day. Every school in the Medway Towns is invited to bring along ten students to get their voices heard. A report is then written and sent to the relevant adults to campaign for change.

For more information visit the website www.medwayyouthcouncil.co.uk.

PHYSICAL FOLK

Physical Folk organises projects to connect communities creatively.
One of the projects is Employment Through Arts. This is a project for 17 to 24 year olds in the Medway Towns who are not in employment, training or education and are interested in making a film or drama production and learn employability skills as they do so.

For more information contact lance@physicalfolk.org.uk or visit the website www.physicalfolk.org.uk .

FRIENDS OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

The organisation was set up in the 1980s as a local group of Amnesty International UK, to campaign for an end to torture, for fair and equal treatment, for the release of prisoners of conscience throughout the world and against the death penalty.
The group has been joining in with actions such as the Stop Torture Campaign and the Human Rights Act Campaign; been present with a stall at events such as the Dickens Festival and the NGO market of the Magna Carta 800 Medway Conference; it has been trading Amnesty products for fundraising purposes; signing petitions and finding others to sign them; and writing letters to governments, MPs etcetera about specific cases of prisoners of conscience.
Recently the organisation has ceased to be an official local group of Amnesty International. Instead we continue our work as Friends of Amnesty International.

For  more information contact cgravestock@blueyonder.co.uk. For more information about the work of Amnesty International visit www.amnesty.org.uk .

MEDWAY SPEAKERS’ CORNER

Medway Speakers’ Corner was set up in 2014 to encourage free speech, discussion and debate in the Medway Towns. It is not necessarily about staged debate, the idea is more to create opportunities for discussion and for people to speak about something that concerns them.
We are focusing on being present at events such as the Annual Conference of Medway Youth Council in November.

For more information contact us at medwayspeaks@gmail.com or visit the website www.medwayspeakerscorner.com .

MEDWAY STAND UP TO RACISM/MEDWAY TRADES UNION COUNCIL

Medway Trades Union Council is the body that brings together trade union branches across North Kent to coordinate support for local and national industrial disputes and to campaign on issues of mutual interest. Trades unions have to act collectively and we therefore have a keen interest in upholding human rights in general not just the rights of our immediate members. Consequently we participate in campaigns against racism, injustice and war as well as fighting for workers’ rights whether employed or unemployed.
We have been involved in the Europe wide demonstration for the UN Anti-Racism Day in March. We are trying to create a more permanent broad based anti-racism campaign in the Medway towns. This includes support for refugees.

For more information contact medwaytuc@googlemail.com or visit the Facebook Page Medway Trade Union Council.

POWERHOUSE

The overall aims are to reduce re-offending, and to address the widespread problem of homelessness in the Medway Towns/Kent, whilst raising awareness and challenging society’s perceptions, stigmas, and prejudices. The project is primarily to provide affordable sustainable housing initially for men exiting the armed forces or from prison. The houses will be sorted from empty housing stock locally in Kent, and will be renovated environmentally, e.g. looking at what materials are used and at energy efficiency, along with a secondary project of an eco-build and alternative living focus. In addition to this, satellite projects will be set up to address key needs of the client groups, e.g. education/training/employment, health, the arts, therapies, money management, social enterprise, community garden/café, etc.

For more information contact angelene1973@outlook.com or phone 07766101143.

NEWS IN MEDWAY/COMBAT STRESS/HELP FOR HEROES/THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION

News in Medway (newsinmedway@live.co.uk) is a social media group, for connecting and informing volunteers regarding Combat Stress (www.combatstress.org.uk), Help for Heroes (www.helpforheroes.org.uk) and the Royal British Legion (www.royalbritishlegion.org.uk). It is a non profit organisation for the community of the Medway Towns. News in Medway (NIM) supports all three charities and is fundraising for all three. NIM also records events and promotes events in the Medway Towns, by photos and film.

News in Medway is no longer active.

ROCHESTER FILM SOCIETY

The film society was formed in 2012/13 with the intention of screening films not usually shown at local cinemas. Independent/art house cinema is a leading forum for outstanding feature films, documentaries and animated productions, which have human rights as their main focus.
Among the films we have screened with a human rights theme have been: The Act of Killing, 12 Years a Slave, Leviathan and Suffragette.
We are a not for profit organisation and have a number of working groups that lead on programming, marketing and finance. Currently we have screenings every other Tuesday at our pop up cinema – the Rochester Picture Palace at the Huguenot Museum in Rochester High Street and periodically at the Cine Lounge at Sun Pier in Chatham. We have also had pop-up events at a local farm shop, the Nucleus Gallery in Rochester, on the Edith May barge and at the Historic Dockyard in Chatham.
Ultimately we hope to have our own cinema and be able to offer films on their first run, afternoon screenings as well as education events etc.
There are always introductions to the films and the option for free flowing post-screening discussions, where people can express their thoughts on the films as well as learn from others with opinions.

For more information go to the website www.rochesterfilmsociety.co.uk or the facebook page www.facebook.com/rochesterpicturepalace.

MEDWAY INTER FAITH ACTION

The aims of Medway Inter Faith Action (MIFA) are:
-To promote, organise and support Inter-Faith and Multi-Faith activities in the Medway area
-To promote cohesion and dialogue between the Faiths and Faith Communities in the Medway area
-To promote respect and understanding amongst all
-To support and maintain membership of the Interfaith Network of the United Kingdom.
MIFA holds monthly meetings on interfaith subjects. Recent examples are: religion and women’s rights; sustainability and climate change; freedom of religion.
Several times MIFA has organised a one day pilgrimage to different places of worship in the Medway Towns. It also organises a yearly a Walk for Peace, with the aim to promote peace within the community of Medway. MIFA supports and contributes to various events, among them the Holocaust Memorial Day in January, the Workers’ Memorial Service in April, the Week of Prayer for World Peace in October and Inter Faith Week in November.

For more information and how to join MIFA, you may e-mail Faran Forghani, Co-Chairman of MIFA, at medway.interfaith@gmail.com or go to the website www.medwayinterfaith.org.uk.

SUNLIGHT DEVELOPMENT TRUST

Sunlight Development Trust is a registered charity and development trust created to tackle health and social inequality through community development.
The charity is based at the Sunlight Centre in North Gillingham, operates as a social enterprise and delivers support and services both within Medway and outside of the area. Income earned from the Trust’s activities is used in a variety of ways to create local social impact.
The Trust

  • manages the Sunlight Centre, providing affordable facilities and meeting space for local community members, community groups and service providers
  • delivers support and services relating to health and wellbeing funded by grants and contracts
  • supports community development and promotes social inclusion through activities, events and volunteering
  • manages an industry standard digital recording studio and provides a sound engineering service
  • manages a community radio station staffed primarily by volunteers
  • delivers a community café and events catering service through its trading subsidiary Café Sunlight CIC.

Some of our activities include:

  • Medway Alzheimer & Dementia Family Support Scheme – peer led activities to support those affected and their carers
  • Medway Men in Sheds – activities for men who are over 30 and not in work and retirees to promote good mental health and wellbeing
  • Wellbeing Café – out of hours support for those who might otherwise use unplanned care due to low mood or poor mental health
  • Little Sunbeams Nursery – free statutory childcare run by Little Darland
  • Working in partnership to deliver inclusive community events and creative activities such as Art Exhibitions, Quiz Nights, Medway Open Studio

For more information contact info@sunlighttrust.org.uk or go to the websites www.sunlighttrust.org.uk, www.radiosunlight.org.uk, www.sunlightstudios.org.uk or www.cafesunlight.org.uk .

MEDWAY CITY OF SANCTUARY

Medway City of Sanctuary was set up in 2015. It exists to support refugees in our local community and to advocate and support refugees nationally and internationally. In particular it wants to support young refugees by organising educational activities as well as other meaningful activities and by helping them to integrate in the local community.

For more information see the website www.medwaycityofsanctuary.org .

KNIGHTS OF MEDWAY

The Knights of Medway are a local group of re-enactors who bring history to life, in particular medieval history. They are present at many events, including Medieval Merriment at Rochester Castle, and while re-enacting they raise money for various charities. In 2017 they held their famous lepra-walk, walking in armour from Rochester Cathedral to Canterbury Cathedral to raise money for the fight against leprosy. They also go to local schools and fetes and are involved in film-making such as The White Lady.

Knights of Medway can be contacted via their Facebook Page: Knights of Medway UK. For bookings contact Lady Barbara at Barbara.chapman1@btinternet.com or phone 07954394587.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL KENT NETWORK

The Amnesty International Kent Network was launched in May 2020 and has the vision to have a presence in every Kent constituency while also working across constituencies. Supporting local groups and working together with like-minded local organisaions is among the aims of the network. The network wants to provide a means for any Amnesty supporter to become involved, whether or not they belong to a local Amnesty group. Monthly meetings are being held online and the monthly newsletter shows what people can do such as supporting online campaigns and signing petitions. For more information contact Graham Minter at graham.minter@amnesty.org.uk .