Speakers Corner Lichfield Blog

Fairtrade - giving everyone a better deal!

As a Fairtrade city, Lichfield is hosting a series of events during Fairtrade fortnight. So come on down, find out more, and help support the Fairtrade movement:

Swap your usual stuff for Fairtrade stuff during Fairtrade week (and beyond!)  – 22 February – 7 March 

From swapping  your usual bananas for Fairtrade bananas, your usual cuppa for a Fairtrade cuppa, your usual T shirt for a Fairtrade T shirt. Every time you go shopping, you can use your wallet to make a stand against world poverty.  You can help the world’s poor to earn a decent wage by buying Fairtrade products.  The Fairtrade range started small 15 years ago. Like one bar of chocolate small.  Now there are over 4,500 products bearing the Fairtrade Mark – from food and drink to beauty products and clothing.  You can swap today! Visit www.thebigswap.org.uk website to find out more!

Encourage others to Swap their coffee and tea to Fairtrade

Why not ask your favourite cafe to join in? Or, your place of work, or any organisation you belong to. Encourage them to swap their usual tea or coffee to Fairtrade.  There are so many different blends and brands of Fairtrade coffee and tea to choose from at local stores here in Lichfield.

Meet Dr Johnson on Saturday 6 March at 11.00 am at Speakers’ Corner

Then follow him on his visits to Lichfield’s tea and coffee shops, for a very special intimate performance! Intimate Theatre are performing a short drama featuring Dr Johnson and a tea shop owner entitled ‘Sam Johnson’s tea shop Swap’. It will be performed at lots of Lichfield’s cafes ending at the Lichfield’s Garrick’s Green Room at about 1.00 pm.

Come to the Co-op’s strictly Fairtrade tea dance at Boley Park Community Hall on Friday afternoon 26 February at 2.30 pm. 

(More details from the Co-op Superstore on Boley Park).

For more information contact Fairtrade Lichfield at hawkes.madiba@btinternet.com  or Tel: 01543 250332

Lunchtime lectures at the Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral has organised a series of inspring FREE lectures this Lent, in the run-up to the general election. It is hoped that the speakers will also do a quick slot at Speakers’ Corner before their main event in the Cathedral.

Canon Chancellor Pete Wilcox commented
“These lectures will provide the perfect opportunity for us to consider some of the most pressing issues facing the world today, guided by some extraordinarily inspiring and well-placed speakers.”

The lectures include: ‘Assisted dying’, ‘Armed forces and international peace today’,  ‘Do bankers deserve bonuses?’, ‘The challenge of climate change’ and ‘What does it mean to be British?’. To find out more visit our events page.

Sky Travel has recommended Lichfield as a top destination to beat the winter blues, and highlighted Speakers’ Corner Lichfield:

From Sky Travel: “It’s not often that Lichfield inspires such cultured climes as Prague however (in turn inspired by the original one in Hyde Park) the relatively new Lichfield Speakers’ Corner has done just that.  Occupying a designated space near the Cathedral this is the pilot project of a charity aiming to create new opportunities for people to air their opinions in public. Head down there now to watch history in the making as potential future world leaders try to win friends and influence people.” 

Find out more

Sometimes it’s hard to think of a conversation! If you need a starter for 10, why not pick one of this month’s annual awareness days?

• Saving the Staffordshire Hoard for the West Midlands
• Burns Night
• Farmhouse Breakfast Week
• Food Allergy and Intolerance Week
• Lifeboats SOS Day
• Be Loud be Clear campaign
• SAFE Anti-Robbery Week

And if nothing else, visit Speakers’ Corner in your loudest tie or shirt to show your support for beating bowel cancer, as part of the Be Loud Be Clear campaign.

Help Haiti's children

A devastating earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale  struck Haiti causing an unfolding humanitarian crisis. Children have been killed and injured — many are in desperate need of clean water, shelter and medical help. Early reports indicate a large number of casualties and widespread damage.

Emergency teams from around the region have been sent to help and UNICEF aid is getting through, providing clean water, preventing disease and saving lives. However more supplies are urgently needed.

The situation for Haiti was already difficult before the earthquake hit the island. Haiti is the one of the poorest countries in the world and is struggling to recover from years of violence, insecurity and massive natural disasters. More than half of the country’s 9.6 million inhabitants are under 21 years of age. UNICEF is working to ensure that the rights of children affected in Haiti are upheld. A gift of £30 could provide 3 families with basic water kits, protecting more children’s right to be healthy.

Thousands of people have already donated to help people in Haiti, but if you haven’t and want to help, why not donate to UNICEF’s Haiti Earthquake Children’s Appeal? Your donation will go to the Haiti Earthquake Children’s Appeal to support children affected by the recent earthquake in Haiti. To donate, visit UNICEF’s website.

UNICEF has been working in Haiti since 1949. We rely entirely on voluntary contributions and receive no funding from the United Nations budget. If the funds raised exceed UNICEF’s funding requirements for this emergency‚ the money will go to UNICEF’s Children’s Emergency Fund.

Canon Pete Wilcox shows off the new plaque

A stylish bronze plaque, that marks the spot of Lichfield’s very own Speakers’ Corner, has been unveiled this week by Canon Pete Wilcox – Chair of Speakers’ Corner Lichfield.  

The plaque simply reads: ‘Site of Speakers Corner, Lichfield. Inaugurated 2 May 2009.’  

Canon Wilcox said: “It’s brilliant to see the plaque in place by Minster Pool. Without it, there would be nothing to give people permission to use Speakers’ Corner the way it is intended to be used. We hope lots of people take the opportunity to speak out at Speakers’ Corner whenever they have something to say. 

“The Founding Committee of Speakers’ Corner Lichfield is extremely grateful to Linfords for providing the plaque and especially to Ian Robertson for arranging it. Now it just needs some intrepid members of the public to make use of this new opportunity, to make Speakers’ Corner Lichfield something to be proud of.”

Jo Malin joins in the celebrations

On the 2nd May Lichfield became the official home of the second only Speakers’ Corner outside of London. The official opening took place amidst a star studded ceremony that featured BBC’s Joanne Malin, ex Coronation Street star Chris Walker, as well as a host of local dignitaries.  

Chris Walker, actor and ex-Coronation Street star, said at the opening: “I am proud to close the Speakers’ Corners celebrations today, and officially open it to the people of this district, so they can use it to air their views and be heard, and to listen.”

Peter Bradley, Director of Speakers’ Corner Trust, said: “I thought nothing could top the opening of Nottingham’s Speakers Corner, but Lichfield’s celebrations were just fantastic. It was a real community event with hundreds of people gathered throughout the day to enjoy speeches, performances and appearances from local people, dignitaries and stars. To see nearly 50 people get up on the podium and have their say on issues close to their heart, and to watch the reaction of the crowds was inspiring. I am really proud to have played a part in the launch of Speakers’ Corner in Lichfield and I’m sure it will become something the local community will cherish for years to come. I would like to say a thank you to everyone who helped launch the Corner in Lichfield – it was a real team effort!”