{"id":28987,"date":"2019-01-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/press\/csw-ceo-launches-new-book-at-parliamentary-event-4187\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T18:47:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T17:47:59","slug":"csw-ceo-launches-new-book-at-parliamentary-event-4187","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/press\/csw-ceo-launches-new-book-at-parliamentary-event-4187\/","title":{"rendered":"CSW CEO launches new book at parliamentary event"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2d20269d939963c0cbf64bdf60414785.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>CSW\u2019s founder and Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, launched his autobiography, \u2018Standing Up, Speaking Out,\u2019 at an event at the Speaker\u2019s House in Parliament on 8 January.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The book is the story of Mervyn\u2019s life and his experiences of campaigning on behalf of people around the world that have faced persecution and discrimination because of their beliefs. Mervyn founded CSW 40 years ago, and the organisation has since grown into an international advocacy organisation working to promote, protect and uphold freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in over 20 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, who hosted the event, said: <b><i>\u201cFrom the field of human rights and the battle against persecution, and the remorseless drive to help provide succour and offer a voice to the voiceless and the most destitute, Mervyn is a real champion. He has devoted himself in his leadership of CSW to the translation of care from a word to a deed.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also speaking at the event, Alistair Burt MP said he was <b><i>\u201cfull of admiration for the work which is encompassed in the book, but not only that, the life that has made the book in the first place.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his speech, Mervyn discussed why CSW advocates for FoRB for people of all faiths and none, saying: <b><i>\u201cWe came to the conclusion without any shadow of a doubt that we should be speaking up for people who don\u2019t share our Christian faith. If two people walked through this door and one was a Muslim and one was a Christian and they were hungry, we wouldn\u2019t ask which one was the Christian we would feed them both. We need to speak up for those who are unable to speak for themselves, no matter what their faith is.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mervyn concluded: <b><i>\u201cI believe there is more awareness today of religious freedom at a political level than there has ever been\u2026 What we now need to do is turn that awareness into concrete action that really makes a difference to people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notes to Editors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1.<span style=\"font-variant-east-asian: normal\"><\/span>Mervyn\u2019s book, \u2018Standing Up, Speaking Out: 40 Years of Fighting Injustice\u2019, can be purchased <a href=\"https:\/\/netdonor.net\/page\/35876\/shop\/1?ea.tracking.id=homepage\">aqu\u00ed<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CSWs founder and Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, launched his autobiography, Standing Up, Speaking Out, at an event at the Speakers House in Parliament on 8 January.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":43125,"template":"","categories":[],"regions":[159,160],"class_list":["post-28987","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","regions-international-arenas","regions-uk-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/28987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/28987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39572,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/28987\/revisions\/39572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28987"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=28987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}