At the end of February, SPEAK's Day of Action 2012 featured a demonstration outside Shell's London Headquarters in Waterloo to draw attention to the company's so far unmet responsibility to clean up extensive oil pollution in the Niger Delta. In response to our letter and petition handed in that day to CEO Peter Voser, we were invited back to meet with a company representative in order to discuss some of the issues we raised. Consequently, on Friday 20th April, Andy Cope (campaigns officer) and Mark Johnson (campaigns petal leader) took up an invitation to meet Barnaby Briggs, Strategic Relations Manager for Shell International. Some of Andy's personal reflections on the are meeting here:

Martyrs have got a bad name these days. I grew up hearing stories of the early church, and those people who died at the hands of the Roman empire, simply for standing up for what they believed in. Peter, Joan of Arc, Bonhoeffer. All these people were noble victims because they stood up and faced death when issued with the choice between denying what they believed and suffering at the hands of their oppressors.

SPEAK inspires a special sort of dedication from everyone who gets involved, and the Network Support team is no exception. This week, the NST are sad to be saying farewell to two members of the team. Over the last few years, they have poured themselves into SPEAK, giving their time, energy and considerable gifts to support the network. You may not have met them, or even been previously aware of their existence, but if you are, or have been a member of a SPEAK group over the last couple of rears, you have benefitted from the work they have done.

So it's been a couple of weeks since the Occupy St. Pauls folk were unceremoniously removed from their campsite..

Rachel Dismorr studied Theology at Exeter University, where she was a the faith link for her Speak group. While she was studying, she wrote this article on free market economics. She currently is living in Uganda.

Rachel Carpenter explores the theme for this year's Soundcheck.

In this entry SPEAK member Chloe Skinner explores the importance of not just giving to charity but also supporting campaigns for change.

Left: The annual Christmas reconstruction of Bethlehem outside The Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Zaragoza, Spain; Right: A demonstration by ‘Los Indignados’ outside the same church

The challenges to face in Forced labor: big brands are involved in commercially lucrative slavery relations. SPEAK Network Brazil launches a campaign against forced labor in São Paulo.