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Speakers’ Corner Trust is a registered charity which promotes free expression, public debate and active citizenship as a means of revitalising civil society in the UK and supporting its development in emerging democracies.
SCT’s approach is based on the belief that association between citizens and the free, face-to-face exchange of ideas, information and opinions – with each other as well as with the decision-takers among them – is a key to rebuilding trust and participation in Britain’s civil society and developing vibrant civil institutions and robust rights in emerging democracies.
Programmes & Projects
SCT currently has three core programmes. To date it has focused principally on the development of local Speakers’ Corner projects in the UK which it is hoped will over time form a growing national network. However, SCT also has an international programme which it launched in 2009 with a major national initiative in Nigeria. Finally, SCT is developing an educational programme to provide a range of resources for senior secondary school students and adult citizens emphasising the importance and showcasing the techniques of active and vocal citizenship.
Read more about SCT’s programmes and projects.
Special Initiatives & Resources
SCT has formed a number of partnerships with major organisations through which it is able to pursue special initiatives which it could not undertake alone. It has, for example, worked with the Southbank Centre on the production of Speaking Out, a download designed to provide an introduction to the basic skills required for speaking in public, and with Central St Martins College of Art & Design, part of the University of the Arts London, on the design of prototype Speakers’ Corners.
News
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SCT Launches Forum for Debate
SCT has launched its new online Forum for Debate with a debate on The NHS and Finite Public Funds: the Case for Charging. David Furness of the Social Market Foundation proposes the introduction of charges to reduce unnecessary demand for GP services as a means of narrowing the shortfall in NHS funding; Joe Farrington-Douglas of the NHS Confederation opposes the idea on both ethical and economic grounds.
The debate is the first in a series which will provide protagonists on either side of an issue with an opportunity to set out well-considered, rational arguments as a means of stimulating a broader public debate. SCT’s partner in the initiative, the British Library will provide an accessible bibliography of further sources of information on the topic.
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‘Speaking of Free Speech’ Quotes Available For Your Website
You’ll see at the top right hand corner of every page on SCT’s website a well known – or perhaps not so well known – quotation on the subject of freedom of expression drawn from the Speaking of Free Speech page in our Library. Each time you visit a new page, the quotation changes.
We’re now able to provide this resource to your website. If you would like to import Speaking of Free Speech quotations so that they appear in random order on your blog or website, just go to our Quotes for Your Website page to find out how.
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New Film Urges Citizens to Speak Out!
A new film commissioned jointly by Speakers’ Corner Trust and the Southbank Centre was launched on 4 December. The fifteen minute download made by Sam Lawlor seeks to encourage people with ideas and opinions to take every opportunity to express them in public. It features advice from a range of performers, campaigners and politicians including poet Lemn Sissay and Justice Secretary Jack Straw.
The film can be viewed on the Library/Audio Visual page.
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SCT Launches Forum for Debate
Forum for Debate
SCT’s new Forum page features debates and occasional essays about key issues as a means of showcasing ideas, providing a platform for opinion and informing and stimulating debate elsewhere.
The first debate - on The NHS and Finite Public Funds: The Case for Charging - brings together the Social Market Foundation and the NHS Confederation to argue for and against the case for selective charging within the NHS.
Would it threaten people's health and undermine the founding principles of the NHS or inject much needed realism into thinking about NHS funding and help sustain the health service through difficult economic times?
Speaking Out
Speaking Out is a new film jointly commissioned by SCT and the Southbank Centre which seeks to provide inspiration and encouragement to people who have opinions and ideas to communicate - and we need to hear - but perhaps lack the confidence or experience to express publicly.
The fifteen minute film features campaigners, performers and politicians including poet Lemn Sissay, Justice Secretary Jack Straw and rock singer Natascha Eleanoré who share some of the basic skills they've learned from their own experiences.
Quick Links
Get in Touch
If you'd like to start your own local Speakers' Corner project, or let us know your suggestions for future SCT activities, comment on this website or join our mailing list, please do get in touch. Just click here for our contact details and to subscribe.
Speaking of Free Speech
“The primacy of the word, basis of the human psyche, that has in our age been used for mind-bending persuasion and brain-washing pulp, disgraced by Goebbels and debased by advertising copy, remains a force for freedom that flies out between all bars.”
— Nadine Gordimer, 1923 – ,
South African novelistFreedom of Expression
"Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of democratic life. It is by the free exchange of ideas among citizens about how they should live together and how they should be governed that we create and sustain the democratic society. So the rights to free association and expression are scarcely less important than the right to live in peace and free from want."
Václav Havel, playwright, former President of the Czech Republic & Patron of Speakers’ Corner Trust
The Hyde Park Tradition


