The purpose of the
conference is to explore how hope and resilience can be fostered in the current
climate through an emphasis on human rights, approaches to justice in
psychological therapy and through building solidarity in the voluntary and
statutory sectors.
I'm looking after both the REDP display
as well as that of Leicester Council of Faiths, just across from it in a shared
space with Refugee Action. The photo below shows Gail Pringle, Independent
Project Manager and Voluntary Sector Consultant with Refugee Action.
The conference is opened by David
Sallah (Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust), Cllr Mohammed Dawood (Assistant
Mayor, Leicester City Council) and Bob Burgess (Vice Chancellor, University of
Leicester).
Keynote speaker is Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty. Her name has been attached to the event since it was
first advertised several weeks ago. Shami is a big draw and I know from my
conversations this morning that many people are here just to hear her. I speak
with a couple of the conference organisers about that, and about having heard
Shami speak at REDP's human rights event in Derby in March. I mention what an
excellent contribution she'd made to that day and how I'm looking forward to
hearing her speak again. I also say how I know that she tends to be on a tight
schedule, that more often than not, she'll beam in, deliver her piece then beam
out. I get a few blank looks in response. I wonder if I'm coming across as a
bit of a name-dropper. At 1140 sharp, we're summoned back into the Peter Williams Lecture Theatre, where the plenary
sessions are taking place. The person chairing this session bigs her up, using
that well-worn phrase, "Our keynote speaker needs no introduction"
before giving her one (at length and in detail) ending with a triumphant,
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: Shami Chakrabati!" Since I can't
see her anywhere in the room, I expect her to enter at that point, perhaps just
having arrived at the last minute. There's vigorous applause, as if most
everyone else expects the same thing. At that point, however, someone comes
forward with a DVD,
inserts it into the multimedia centre at the lectern and goes through the menu to
cue it up. Now I don't know if I've took my eye off the ball, my attention
has been wandering (more than usual, that is) but I've somehow managed to miss
the fact that Shami has recorded her speech and it's to be delivered via DVD.
Seems like I'm not the only one, as a handful of people huffily pack their
bags, get up and leave. Can't fault Shami for not being here. She's obliged to
stay in London today to play her significant and influential part in focusing
attention on the second reading in the House of Lords of the Justice and
Security Bill. The talk itself is as impassioned, informed and inspirational as
you'd expect from her. Liberty's mission statement is visible on a poster
behind her throughout:
We believe in
fundamental rights and freedoms - shared values that protect every member of
the human family and the society that we seek to build together.
On reflection, I
should have twigged that Shami wasn't going to be here in person because Chino
isn't here.
I can't let my post on this event end without
mentioning the Zimbabwean Choir, who
perform several times during the day.
