Simon Topping is a Methodist minister and faith leader based in

Hucclecote Hucclecote is a suburb in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, comprising a ward (population 8,826) in the City of Gloucester. It is located on the periphery of the city, between Barnwood and Brockworth, along Ermin Way, an old Roman road connec ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, known for his campaign work in favour of ending world poverty.

Background

Reverend Doctor Simon Topping came to prominence during his time in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and his work on the British chapter of the Jubilee 2000

Drop the Debt Drop the Debt is the slogan of the late 1990s campaign for international debt cancellation led by the organisation Jubilee 2000. The phrase was coined by filmmaker Mike Christie. He and Jubilee 2000's Jamie Drummond set out to create a mainstrea ...

campaign. In 1998 he helped to initiate a human chain around central Birmingham during the G8 meeting of world leaders in the city. The campaign resulted in the relocation of the G8 conference meeting to the outskirts of the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

. In 2003 he co-founded the Saltley Gate Peace Group, an inter-faith initiative, launched in response to the build-up to

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Drop the Debt

In 2001 Topping caused controversy when he designed a black

poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, '' Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug ...

to 'highlight the problems of world poverty'. Members of the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

were allegedly angered by the use of the poppy due to its connotations with

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces me ...

. The minister continued to campaign for the cause right through to

Make Poverty History Make Poverty History were organizations in a number of countries, which focused on issues relating to 8th Millennium Development Goal such as aid, trade and justice. They generally formed a coalition of aid and development agencies which worked ...

Make Poverty History

In 2005, when the World G8 Summit returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the international Make Poverty History campaign was climaxing with marches in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In support of the campaign Rev. Topping organised and took part in a 400-mile trek from Birmingham to Edinburgh.

External links

G8 Summit walk Gallery
– BBC Online, July 2005
Gloucester minister helping to Make Poverty History
– BBC Online, June 2005
Interview by Richard Adkins
– BBC Radio, June 2005
Black poppy marks poverty
– BBC News, November 2001 British anti-poverty advocates English Methodist ministers English social justice activists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century English Methodist ministers 20th-century English Methodist ministers {{UK-Christian-clergy-stub