Save the Children UK blogs » Glastonbury

10,000 thumb prints at Camp Bestival!

Saira O'Mallie — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:13:46 +0000

Last week I set off once again with my tent and backpack, some bunting, balloons and a van full of easels, boards and inks. An unusual holiday you might think! But this was no time for rest and relaxtion… it was three days of solid campaigning… with maybe a bit of dancing thrown in.

The team were down at Camp Bestival in Dorset inspring festival-goers to make their mark. The small festival, aimed at families, hosts a maximum of 15,000 guests… which makes it all the more impressive that we filled our boards with 10,000 thumb prints!

Walking around the festival site in the evening you were hard pushed to find anyone on site without ink stained fingers. Everyone was happy to give a thumbs up as they saw the familiar faces from the Save the Children stand getting into the festival spirit! Even some of the acts, including Florence Welch (aka Florence and the Machine) and Tinchy Stryder, had already joined the campaign at Glastonbury Festival.

We have quite a presence in the south-west of England, with many visitors having seen our stand at the Bath and West show and Glastonbury. Some visitors were already signed up to the campaign! These 10,000 new supporters push us well on our way to our target of 70,000 thumbs this summer!

20,000 make their mark at Glasto this weekend

Zoe Van der Linden — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:13:06 +0000

It’s Monday afternoon and, like many other people, I am sitting at my computer writing this blog and wishing I had been at Glastonbury this weekend.

The reason? Because over the past few days people have been ‘Making their Mark’ – giving us their thumbprint – to support our biggest ever campaign to save children’s lives.

The feedback we have received from everyone at Glastonbury has been amazing. At one point on Friday people were queuing outside the tent patiently waiting to ‘Make their Mark’.

We headed to Glastonbury expecting to get 10,000 thumbprints over the whole weekend. As of the end of the day yesterday, OVER 20,000 people made their mark. We even had loads of celebrities ‘Make their Mark’ – from KT Tunstall, Graham Coxon from Blur, and Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand, to Pixie Geldof, Gabriella Cilmi and even Andrew Marr. See more pictures.

Just because you can’t be there, doesn’t mean you can’t support our campaign too. Join the 20,000 at Glastonbury and ‘Make Your Mark’ today.

After the G20…Glastonbury

Zoe Van der Linden — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:51:24 +0000

Phew! What a couple of weeks it has been. World leaders have a habit of stirring up a lot of commotion whenever they get together, and last week was no exception. Rallies, protests, frantic blogging and a transport nightmare all made last week very interesting. I unintentionally encountered the protests on Wednesday evening, when I was trying to make my way home by bus via Liverpool Street. I wasn’t too happy when I was told to find an alternative route, but it was great to see passionate people peacefully standing up for what they believed in. A lot like all our marvellous supporters who braved the erratic weather two weeks ago and marched through London shouting ‘Put Children First’.

So now it’s all over, and the G20 communique offers a small ray of hope for the world’s poorest children, but we cannot and must not stop here. G20 leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and saving millions of children’s lives. Now is the time to convert these words into action. As campaigners we can make this happen, but we have to work together.

In order to keep the pressure on world leaders, the campaigns team are gearing up for a hectic summer of activity – including ‘Making our Mark’ at Glastonbury in June and lobbying at the G8 in July. Sign up here to keep up to date with the latest developments and about how you can get involved in our biggest ever campaign!