On Thursday 19th May International Alert is the UK’s leading peace building charity held a charity comedy event “Are You Taking the Peace?” at the Bloomsbury theatre in aid of their sterling work around the world. Comedians including Rich Hall, Sean Hughes and Robin Ince gave up their time for free to help raise almost £5,000 for the excellent cause.
International Alert are a n independent peacebuilding organisation who work with people directly affected by violent conflict to improve their prospects of peace. They seek to influence the policies and ways of working of governments, international organisations like the UN and multinational companies, to reduce conflict risk and increase the prospects of peace.
Putting on a comedy event may seem a bit strange for such a serious organisation but it’s a great way to reach people who otherwise may not have heard of the charity, and of course to get some valuable donations.
I attended the event which was a great laugh from start to finish and included a great joke about why the theme tune to Dogtanion is the happiest song in the world! Listen to the below and I’m sure you’ll agree.
There was also a serious side to the evening with International Alert giving a brief speech on how they are helping human rights in places like Kyrgyzstan. It was a really thought provoking aside which helped to put the evening into perspective.
You can read more about the great work of International Alert on their website.
