Write for Rights Global Letterwriting Marathon

The pen is a mighty weapon and Amnesty International invites you to join them for the annual Write for Rights Letter Writing Marathon.

Join our dedicated team of Amnesty letter writers, writing on behalf of five cases where individuals or groups have been persecuted and in some cases jailed simply for exercising their freedoms of expression and association.

Send good vibes to Iran, Zimbabwe, Indonesia or Mexico by writing a short message of hope on a Kiwi card and tie it to the tree of hope. Or you can sharpen your quill and get down to some serious letter writing calling for action for one of Amnesty's cases.

Face painting and festive colouring-in will keep the wee ones entertained and you can also see artwork from the 50 Years of Amnesty poster exhibition of artwork from around the world.

From about 5pm Caitlin Smith and friends will entertain with some live music and the tree of hope lights will be turned on.

Amnesty International is a campaigning organisation of ordinary people taking a stand to protect and defend human rights all round the world. The organisation was founded in 1961 and grew out of an army of letter writers who took action on behalf of two Portuguese students arrested and jailed for raising their glass in a toast to freedom.