Deptford geezers Athlete have helped Oxfam raise awareness of the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005.

Steve signs the Make Poverty History petition.

The indie four-piece outfit, who describe their music as ‘a colourful camouflage of Casio rock’, generously allowed Oxfam to set up Make Poverty History campaign stalls at their gigs on 23 and 24 April. We managed to get over 1400 people to sign our petition (including Steve and Carey from the band) and made over £400 from the sale of white bands.

So three cheers for Athlete, who have also leant their support to Oxfam’s Control Arms campaign. The campaign calls for an international arms trade treaty that would create legally binding arms controls and bring the trade in weapons under control. At the moment, someone dies from armed violence every minute.

As Tim from the band says: "The challenge for all of us is to live without hypocrisy - to live to the same standards that we would demand of others. Whilst we all fall short, the apparent lack of effort from the five main members of the UN security council to rid themselves of internal inconsistency on the arms issue is shameful."