Amnesty International was launched in 1961 by Peter Benenson, a British lawyer, after reading about two Portuguese students who had been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for raising their glasses in a toast to freedom.

The ancient Chinese proverb ‘It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness’ inspired Peter Benenson’s choice of a symbol for Amnesty International - the candle in barbed wire.

Click here to visit Wharfedale Amnesty.