PRESS RELEASES
STOP THE TRAFFIK and Greenbelt
Location: Main Stage, Greenbelt
Tonight on main stage at Greenbelt, Daniel Bedingfield performed an array of his songs including ‘James Dean’, ‘If You're Not The One’ and ‘I'm Never Gonna Leave Your Side.’ Daniel also treated the audience to a glimpse of his new material, with songs that epitomize his passion for love, life, STOP THE TRAFFIK and human justice.
Daniels entrance encompassed his vibrant and charismatic personality as he beat boxed behind the stage curtain; half way through the performance Daniel delivered an inspirational talk on STOP THE TRAFFIK, to help rally support he repeated the web address numerous times and challenged the audience, to stand up against people trafficking. He continued to sing impromptu fragments of ‘Ice Ice Baby’ and ‘Billie Jean’ before he bade farewell to the crowd. The night was an outstanding success, with a crowd of happy faces humming Daniels songs as they returned to their tents.
Daniel’s involvement with STOP THE TRAFFIK, stems from it being a small germ of an idea to a coalition that is fast becoming an unstoppable force. We grabbed a few stolen minutes with Daniel at Greenbelt to hear how passionate he is about STOP THE TRAFFIK.
Can you tell us what people trafficking is?
Taking people against their will and exchanging them for money. The Sale of People. It usually involves distance; taking the person a long way from home. There is almost always some kind of incredible pain and anguish involved.
Why are people trafficked?
I think humans are opportunists and will make money in whatever way they can, sometimes because of necessity, sometimes because they don’t have inclinations towards much of a moral character.
What do you consider to be the main push factor of people trafficking?
Poverty is a huge factor, lack of revenue, corruption around the traffickers from a very early age... drug habits. It is definitely dog eat dog world, but trafficking is one of the lowest things a human being can do, it’s the bottom of the barrel.
You recently visited India to meet people that have been trafficked, what memories did you bring back with you?
I was privileged to have met some of those rescued from trafficking. It was inspiring to see them rebuild their lives, with the loving help of some seriously brave social workers and charity workers. I was also shocked by how ingrained trafficking is in a number of societies and how powerful the traffickers are.
Why STOP THE TRAFFIK?
I was talking with Steve (Chalke) in my house in London, discussing the ways to make good use of the exposure that I have recently had the privilege to experience. We talked about working with AIDS orphans in Africa amongst other things. Steve was, at this time, becoming more and more concerned about the issue of trafficking and talked me through some of the stats. I spent a few days thinking through my priorities and came to the conclusion that this is what I needed to be doing with the next 10 years of my life. I wasn’t really aware that it was such a big issue until he showed me the stats, then I was like ‘freaking heck, what else in the world would be worth giving such a huge amount of time and effort to’. The way things are heading politically, the power balance looks set to shift. We need to do something in the next ten years and use our influence in the U.N to clamp down on it while we still can.
Is charity work something you have always been involved with?
Social justice is what I am passionate about, I’m not a very political man, but I'm really into social justice. It doesn’t require much knowledge or intellect, very simple and basic concepts. I have always felt a deep moral outrage in response to injustice. Most teenagers I have come into contact with feel the same, they continue saying it’s not fair, usually about themselves! As they get older that sense of fairness gets beaten out of them, as they accept the injustice that has been done to them, they also begin to lose their anger and fury, and when they see the justice system fail, they become disempowered and apathetic. I have been fighting hard to keep that fury and the outrage in myself. John Lennon said back in the sixties that "apathy isn't 'it' and we can do something."
Who else inspires you?
Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Jesus, Wilberforce was the man!
Your parents are heavily involved with charity work (Global Angels), is this a charity you are involved with as well?
I support Global Angels as a charity and am on the board of directors.
It’s doing lots of great things, I know that I can trust my mother and that Global Angels is a safe channel for me to give through. I know the people that run Global angels and the way my Mother runs things. It's pound for pound, which means that every penny I give to children goes to help the children, and doesn't get swallowed up in some complicated bureaucracy, with everyone putting their hand in the pot as it gets passed down. This is a major concern for many people that would otherwise give money to charities, they just don't know if their money is going to get to the actual kids or not.
What role does your faith playing your work?
My faith is intrinsically central to my life and my understanding of what it means to be human. Every human has a huge amount of worth. It’s about treating others as I treat myself, the highest moral code there is. Making war against the injustices I see around me in the world is a vital part of my faith.
What do you envisage at the end of STOP THE TRAFFIK?
I don’t envisage a specific end. People need to know what's happening with trafficking. We want to put it high on the political agenda. So that when a politician wants to get voted back in, he or she will need to know it’s an issue that the people of the west will put a lot of weight on. Then, once it is on the political agenda and the population is aware of it, we need to let the leaders know that this cannot happen anymore. This is the starting point, and we cannot do anything until that happens. Then it is down to the U.N. leaders and the voting public to keep the pressure on. STOP THE TRAFFIK is step one, it is just the start. When you call "stop the traffik", that doesn’t mean you believe you’ll stop all traffic forever. It means STOP THE TRAFFIK NOW!
Have you got any new music or tours lined up?
I don’t know right now, I’m writing and I’m involved in a lot of different projects. I’m working on many different kinds of music, different bands, different artists, as well as my own stuff, I’ve also become very involved at a charity level with a lot of things.
With that much energy spent in different directions it’s been very difficult to pull together a cohesive third album. I do know it will be called "STOP THE TRAFFIK".
I’ll also release an acoustic album at the same time.
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