ON Thursday, March 19, Reverend Alison Richards, a Methodist Minister, came to talk to Lunch Box about her visits to the West Bank with the Amos Trust.

Amos Trust was established in 1985 to enable singer-songwriter Rev Garth Hewitt to raise awareness of the situations of injustice he had witnessed on his travels. Many of the communities and situations he visited had never received any international attention or coverage, and so Amos was set up to tell their stories.

Over twenty years on, Amos remains committed to finding creative ways to raise awareness of these situations using the arts, sport and community involvement to publicise the problems to as wide an audience as possible. Current partnerships and areas of work are:

? Amos Palestine – supporting the call of local peacemakers for a just peace for Palestine and Israel.

? Amos Street Child – support for the work of street child activists in South Africa

? Amos Communities – promoting women's, children's and Dalit rights In Nicaragua and India

Amos Trust are a small, creative human rights organisation who challenge injustice, build hope and create change, working with vibrant grass roots partners for justice and hope for the forgotten. They organise visits to partner projects around the world as well as UK speaking tours and work with a wide cross-section of UK organisations and individuals of all faiths and none.

One of their partners, Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, has identified home demolitions as one of the most brutal tools used by the Israeli occupation to deliberately intimidate Palestinians and force them from their land. (Jeff Halper Israeli Peace Activist)

The Amos visit in which Alison joined in 2013 was to assist the rebuilding of a Palestinian home that had been demolished in Battir and during their stay, members of the party helped with bricklaying and simple carpentry work. But these projects are more than humanitarian support for the family whose home is being rebuilt. They are an act of solidarity and a protest against the injustice of home demolitions. By helping rebuild they are standing with the family, the local community and the people of Palestine saying that occupation, separation by an 8 metre high wall, oppression and violence cannot win.

Amos Trust believes a just peace for Palestine means security and peace for Israel too. They partner with Palestinian and Israeli groups who are calling for an end to the illegal occupation of the West Bank and who seek to promote community activism through non violence.

This was the last Lunch Box of this series; the next one will be on Thursday, September 10 when Sue Burn of the Batsford Arboretum, the home of the country’s largest collection of trees and shrubs, will give an illustrated talk. Refreshments from 12.30pm – the talk will start at 1pm and last half an hour.

A coach excursion to Batsford Arboretum is arranged for Wednesday, October 14; the cost is £20 and tickets may be obtained from the Parish Office and/or Christine Sutton on christine.sutton6@btinternet.com 01684 565 273.

Cheques should be made payable to Christine Sutton.