The Sweatshop Experiment in Leeds

The Speak group in Leeds organised a 16 hour Sweatshop to raise awareness about sweatshop labour. They made and sewed together Big Dress squares in an outdoor marquee from 6 am - 10 pm.

Ed Carlisle, a former Leeds student, has a short (couple of mins) video on the BBC website about this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/videonation/ed.shtml

...Even the bishop gets involved!

Day of Action 2005 - Big Dress Launch

The Day of Action was, quite simply, amazing! Around 350 people from the network were there lobbying their MPs on one of the most crucial issues of our time.

10 MPs came along to the launch including Stephen Timms (Secretary to the Treasury), Vincent Cable (Shadow Chancelor, Lib. Democrat Party) and Anne Campbell MP along with Peter Stephens (Head of Trade Negotiation for the DTI).

Stephen Timms, along with Tom Brake MP, Deborah Doane (chair of the CORE Coalition), Anne Perham MP and Sarah Thomas (a former supermodel) took part in the campaign presentation. The day was rounded off in celebratory style with a set from a new band, the Honeyriders (www.honeyriders.com)

I've been encouraged by growing support for SPEAK from church leaders and MPs over the past five years. The Big Dress is an imaginative, visual petition to decision makers. It provides a physical space for people to learn more about the challenges of trade justice - and about God. 2005 is a critical year, with Britain's leadership of the G7 and of the European Union giving us the chance to help Make Poverty History. I support the Big Dress initiative wholeheartedly.” Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury

"I am strongly in support of the Trade Justice Movement; it is a movement that reflects the fact that we need a synergy between government and inter-governmental decisions and the choices individuals make on a day to day basis" Alun Michael MP

"We really want to thank everyone for taking part in the launch of SPEAK’s Dress Campaign today. This has been an amazing day and we are really excited about the potential impact of our campaign for corporate responsibility and changes in the law to protect the world’s poorest people. The Big Dress tour has started today and we look forward to seeing you all as we travel the UK" Ben Gilchrist, SPEAK