On Monday 27th February, after an inspiring weekend at Soundcheck, SPEAK Network members gathered for our 2012 Day of Action. This year’s Day of Action was part of SPEAK’s ongoing Unfinished Business Corporate Accountability Campaign. As the SPEAK Network we wanted to take a public stand and speak out against cooperate misbehaviour of UK companies, and the consequences it has on people around the world.

In this new blog entry SPEAK member Chloe Skinner explores the importance of not just giving to charity but also supporting campaigns for change.- check it out!

The SPEAK blog is up and running on the network page!

Philip Powell, from the UK Campaigns Team, attended the annual festival of Time to Turn. Time to Turn is a similar network to Speak, based in the Netherlands. This is his report from the event.

Many banks and businesses claim that they would leave the UK if regulations were tightened, therefore taking tax revenues and future investment with them. For example, Diageo’s CEO claims “our location here in London should not be taken for granted” and Unilever boss warns that it would be “unfortunate for the UK” if additional regulations and taxes were to hamper his business. But are these threats substantive?

This week Greenpeace released it's latest report 'Dirty Laundry' investgating the toxic water pollution produced by textile factories in China. The report accuses Nike, Adidas, Puma, H&M and Lacoste of allowing the discharge of dangerous chemicals into Chinese water systems.

Shane Caliborne is touring the UK this summer!

Anyone who has ever been on a SPEAK day of action will be familiar with the excitement of it all – The crowd raising their voices against injustice, an imaginative and colourful demonstration, and a procession to that most prominent site of UK politics, the Houses of Parliament, where a group of young and conscientious activists will lobby their MPs on issues of global poverty. Suddenly, the letters, petitions, and Pray & Post Cards have an even greater meaning. After the security checks on the way in, and passing by the pomp of this great architectural space, comes the end result: meeting with a group of wealthy, mainly white, mainly male decision makers in an attempt to appeal to their conscience.

'The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible' Toni Cade Bambarayou

This past month students have been making a stand against universities which profit from and invest in the arms trade. Despite the unethical and harmful nature of such links with the arms trade, universities continue to take funding and turn a blind eye to the suffering caused by their actions.

No ‘day of action’ this year, but a unique opportunity to pray with others on a prayer walk through the centre of London, visiting the headquarters of Shell, the Bank of England, the Cenotaph in Whitehall and HMS Belfast.