Quiz nights have been a major social event and fundraiser for many years now. The Ye Olde George in the centre of Christchurch was our original venue – despite their function room being somewhat gloomy (and grubby) and their charging for the privilege. Sadly it is currently closed. Last year we returned to the Brunswick Hotel, Charminster – we’d been there many years ago. One of the oldest pubs in Bournemouth, it doesn’t overwhelm you with fancy decor and lights.
packed amnesty international quiz night at the brunswick
Numbers were rather low for our last Autumn Quiz in Poole, but we had well over 60 crammed into the Brunswick’s function room. David Brown again proved an excellent host, and May Stevens organised another stunning raffle. We raised over £400 – a record for our quiz nights.
David Brown quizmaster at amnesty international quiz night
Thanks to the Brunswick for providing the venue (and manning a separate bar) for free.
Brazil
At the April meeting we had a fascinating talk by Richard Crosfield on Brazil. Richard is one of the hard working South American team of volunteers who coordinate and disseminate the mass of information into case files and actions. You’ve probably seen some of their newsletters on this blog.
Brazil is a vast land of many contrasts – in some quite liberal (they abolished the death penalty in the 19th Century). But it was the contrast of people with great wealth living alongside the masses crammed into the favelas (slums) and in particular the numerous killings by police. These killings seldom lead to any prosecution of the perpetrators – such an example is our case file.
Richard also spoke about the challenges faced by the local offices in Brazil and how this hasn’t always led to actions for us to work on. But he flagged up the work coming linked to the forthcoming Olympics in the Summer.