Campaigners from across the island will be gathering outside the Tynwald Legislative buildings for Tea at Tynwald - a fun family event hosted by the Point 1 campaign, which is a campaign calling for the government to increase its contribution to overseas aid. Running this Thursday (4th October) from 4.30pm to 6pm outside Tynwald buildings there will be fairtrade tea, coffee, cakes and snacks for people finishing work, school, children and parents. The food and drink will have links to developing countries, and will be free to all comers.

Helen Ashcroft, who is organising the event said:

“Whether through the food we eat, the tea and coffee we drink, the markets and businesses we work for, we interact every day with developing countries. We have a responsibility to help the everyday people in developing countries who go through hardship we will never have a risk of experiencing.”

Kristina Crawford, local teacher and founder of the Point 1 Campaign said that Tea at Tynwald has been inspired by a quote from Martin Luther King’s speech ‘A Christmas Sermon on Peace’:

“maybe you want tea: that’s poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you’re desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that’s poured into your cup by a West African. And then you reach over for your toast, and that’s given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. And before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world.”

The Point 1 campaign, which launched at Mannifest in August, has already gathered approximately 1500 signatures for its petition calling on the Isle of Man government to spend 0.1% GNI on overseas aid. The campaign argues that the island’s overseas aid has not only benefited over 4.3 million people, but is a vital part of showing the island is a responsible nation and contributing to the global economy that we benefit from.