How can we make a fairer world? How can we make sure human rights work for all – and not just for some?

This is the subject of a charity talk to be given by Lord John Bird in Ely on Sunday October 7.

Lord Bird did not have an easy start in life: he was born into hardship and poverty in the post-war slums of London.

He was still a child when he started getting in trouble with the police and did not learn to read and write until he was 16.

Later, he was struck by how charities working with the homeless did everything, except help people back on their feet.

So, in 1991, with the help of Body Shop founders Gordon and Anita Roddick, he set up the The Big Issue. Homeless vendors generate a legitimate income by selling the magazine – a model that has spread to 35 other countries.

Lord John Bird will give the Amnesty International Ben Jupp Memorial Lecture at Ely Cathedral at 6.30pm. Free admission, with a retiring collection for Amnesty International.