Tonight, at the Brit Awards, stars including Lemar, Keane, Jamelia and Minnie Driver will be showing their support for the Make Poverty History campaign by wearing white bands at the ceremony in London.
Lemar said, “Singing on Band Aid 20 made me realise just how many people in the world are so poor. It’s awful and it’s not right that anyone in today’s world should die of hunger. There should be enough food to go around for everybody. That’s why I’m happy to wear the white band and support Make Poverty History.”
Their support comes on the back of news that sales of white bands, symbol of the Make Poverty History campaign, have gone through the roof with more than half a million sold in just four weeks.
Sales of the white bands have been boosted by Nelson Mandela’s support of the campaign in London last week, with 60,000 sold online, many of the charity shops selling the bands selling out and many more now being bought by text.
White Bands will be worn around the world at key moments in 2005, especially on July 2 when there will be a huge rally in Edinburgh ahead of the G8 meetings in Scotland.
Christian Aid’s Martin Drewry, speaking on behalf of Make Poverty History, said: “In just a few weeks we’ve sold more than 100,000 white bands. The response has been incredible and very encouraging. The message is getting through to the public and we’re gathering new supporters for the campaign daily. It shows the huge level of concern about trade justice, debt and aid.”
Save the Children’s Matt Phillips, speaking on behalf of Make Poverty History, said: The demand for the white bands and support by stars for the campaign has been phenomenal and there’s a real momentum gathering. This sends a clear message to politicians that they must take big steps this year to make poverty a thing of the past. A child dies from poverty every three seconds. This must be the year of change.”
The BRIT Awards and the BRIT Trust have linked up with charity Save the Children to bring real and lasting change to children affected by the tsunami in Asia. The British Phonographic Industry have guaranteed £500,000 from the awards night will go to a two-year project to aid youngsters affected by the catastrophe.
Celebrities such as Rhys Ifans, Denise Van Outen, Graham Norton, McFly, June Sarpong, Busted, Travis and Davinia McCall have all been sporting the white band in support of the campaign since it launched.