A volunteer team from the UK, the Midlands Peacemakers, collaborated with their Local Council and College of Further Education this summer to promote the humanitarian work of TPRF and International Peace Day on September 21.
When the team showed a variety of videos about peace (Brixton Peace Beats, Celebrate Life, and Peacemakers) to staff and students of the College’s Performing Arts Department in January 2014, the students were extremely inspired to work together on promotional videos of music and dance for Peace Day. Students also performed at a special Peace Concert in Kidderminster Town Hall on June 27, raising awareness of the Peace One Day initiative and TPRF’s Peace Education Program (PEP).
The concert was a special occasion that included a “Peace Meal,” with waiter service and delicious Indian food served on stainless steel thalis (Indian style dishes). The evening began with a Peace One Day introductory video and ended with Peacemakers (a conversation between the founder of Peace One Day, Jeremy Gilley, and Prem Rawat). Both were warmly received by an attentive audience.
The standard of the musical and dance performances was exceptional, with every act receiving enthusiastic applause from invited guests, including volunteers and organizers of the local Food Bank. Many families in Britain are currently experiencing extreme difficulties in these times of austerity, and guests happily contributed to a collection that raised over £500 (approximately US $820) for the bank.
The global work of TPRF was promoted through banners, cards, and leaflets. Kidderminster Arts Festival (KAF) organizers subsequently invited friends of TPRF and Peacemakers to display and distribute promotional materials at a variety of Town Hall events. This included displays at the VIP champagne launch of KAF as well as the World War I commemorative “Peace Chapel.”
On the final day of KAF, Peacemakers funded a Peace Café, organized by friends of TPRF, serving light refreshments and an Indian lunch to Arts Festival performers, Food Bank users, and casual visitors.
Café-goers listened to local musicians, watched short clips of Prem Rawat’s addresses, and browsed an exhibition of TPRF’s Food for People and Peace Education Programs.
Subsequently, school staff have independently organized an event within the college to celebrate International Peace Day and will host the West Midlands’ first Peace Education Program in January 2015.
