Let’s hope that recent reports of the demise of the Make Poverty History campaign are unfounded. Mobilising the masses last summer (okay, via the biggest free pop concerts ever staged, but does that matter?) was certainly a remarkable achievement. But people – and perhaps more to the point, the press – have very short memories.

Apparently there were 8,000,000 white bands in 2005. With Africa once again off the international agenda – no surprise there, then – now is the time for some of those eight million to show that it’s not off theirs.