As leading thinkers from across the globe gather at the Barbican centre for the Battle of Ideas festival this weekend, on Sunday 18th an extraordinary line-up of over 60 eminent speakers will be entering a pop-up “Views Box” to share their thoughts at the launch of the “Freedom Challenge.” The Views Box is an inflatable video booth which will be touring various locations to encourage the public to have their say on freedom-related issues. At the festival, speakers’ contributions will be relayed to a live audience and recorded for online broadcast in order to inflate much needed debate.

The “Freedom Challenge” and touring “Views Box” were conceived and will be brought to fruition by over 50 young volunteers working with the Hackney-based charity, WORLDwrite.

Ceri Dingle, Director of WORLDwrite and its citizen TV initiative WORLDbytes said today:

“We’re delighted to be launching our Freedom Challenge this weekend. Sadly, despite Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary earlier this year and the celebration of freedoms it gave rise to, censoriousness and conformity are all the rage. Today more people are arrested for what they think, believe and say than at any time since the 18th century. The press are now to be regulated by royal charter for the first time in 300 years and our everyday liberties from smoking to busking to eating what we want, are constantly being curtailed. To inflate the debate on the freedom we need, our young volunteers in Hackney have created a tremendous project. The willingness of so many star speakers at the Barbican to contribute suggests there is a real thirst for getting freedom back on the agenda.”
The “Freedom Challenge” has already raised £1,000 in donations and at its launch and beyond the charity hopes to raise far more to support its tour in the year ahead. To help raise money for this exciting initiative, please visit the Just Giving page: justgiving.com/freedomchallenge
For more information and interviews contact:
Ceri Dingle at: ceridingle@btconnect.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 8985 5435 or 07866 806 918

Notes to editors:
WORLDwrite is a registered charity, no. 1060869. The charity has an open door policy and encourages all-comers to get involved and recognise there are no limits to what’s possible. WORLDwrite runs the award-winning online Citizen TV channel that champions quality citizen reporting and provides free film training to make this possible. For more general information, please visit: www.worldbytes.org.