On Friday March 4th, Lancaster’s Amnesty will be hosting ‘Lancaster vs Everest’ to raise money for Amnesty International. A team of students and staff will be heading down to the climbing wall in the Sports Centre to take on the daunting task of collectively trying to climb the equivalent height of Mount Everest in less than 24 hours.
If you fancy joining them then you can easily sign up at https://lusu.wufoo.com/forms/s1cqdwms14hd6pu/. Each participant must be registered as a competent climber at the Sports Centre, but you can take a beginners’ session before the event to refresh your climbing skills. Don’t worry, climbers aren’t expected to keep on going for the full day. You can chose to climb from 7am- 10am, 10am-1pm, or 1pm-4pm (although if you do want to climb for all three time slots, then go for it!).
If climbing really isn’t your thing, then fear not; it’s still possible to get involved and show your support. You can head up to the top floor of Grizedale bar at 7pm where the Amnesty Society will be teaming up with the Mountaineering Society to host the after-party! There’ll be live music, a quiz, and free cupcakes and brownies. In addition, there will be a short speech from an Amnesty representative for anyone who would like to learn more about what they do.
All the money raised from the event is going to go towards helping Amnesty with their human rights campaigning. An example of the types of things the campus branch of Amnesty have been working on is the ‘My Body, My Rights’ campaign currently being run by Amnesty International UK. The campaign seeks to ‘stop the control and criminalization of sexuality and reproduction.’ Recently, this has specifically involved Lancaster’s Amnesty Society lobbying to decriminalise abortion laws in Ireland. The current laws there are some of the most restrictive in the world, making abortion illegal even in cases where the foetus won’t survive the pregnancy. Even seeking a termination in Ireland can lead to a sentence of up to 14 years in prison. It’s hard to see how laws like these can be considered to be anything other than a serious breach of fundamental human rights.
To support the Lancaster climbers and Amnesty in their continuing fight to protect human rights, you can go to their JustGive page at https://www.justgiving.com/Lancaster-Vs-Everest to sponsor the event. It’s possible to donate any sum you can afford. All money raised will go towards helping Amnesty with their vital work and would be greatly appreciated.
You can find the event for ‘Lancaster vs Everest’ on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/1561280327517981/.
