Carol singing - Tues 21 December, Marston

Carol singers wanted - for our usual pre-Christmas Oxfam fundraiser. Advanced musical skills are entirely optional: enthusiasm is the only essential! So if you like to sing but would not win the X-factor, please don't be deterred. (Hmm - an alternative point of view holds that not being able to win the X-factor would be a positive endorsement of ones voice, but I digress)

Tuesday December 21st, meeting at 6pm in the Oak Barn (a house, not a pub) which is just beyond the bottom end of Edgeway Road, on the right. We will start singing at the bottom of Ferry Road at 6.30pm and sing until about 8pm depending on the weather and then go back to the Oak Barn for some food and drinks afterwards. All are welcome. Song-sheets are provided, laminated against the rain, so no excuses!

If you are interested, just turn up at any time and find us in Ferry Road (off the Marston Road) between 6.30pm and 8pm, or ring email us (volunteer@oxfordoxfamgroup.org.uk ) for more information.

OOG fundraising in 2010

The OOG Annual General Meeting tomorrow (8 December) involves a review of the OOG year - or those who don't make it to the AGM, here's a summary of our fundraising activities.

In the current cold-snap it is quite easy to think back to last January! A fundraising initiative about New Years' Resolutions raised a small amount of money - you could of course raise money for Oxfam this way in 2011!

January was also when the Haitian Earthquake hit, and OOG had one of the most successful street collections in our history, raising an amazing £3,335.

As the spring came in, our March Bookfair raised £2,175.41. The Autumn one would go on to do even better.

In June we organised the OOOGWalk, a sponsored walk around Port Meadow. It was the same route as in 2009, but with a lot longer a buildup, and also our first venture into the wacky world of Twitter (@OOGwalk). We were rewarded by a significant increase both in the numbers of walkers and the amount raised. Further funds were raised by a walk in Wells organized by OOG members Bernadette and David Green.

This autumn, as in previous years was a key fundraising season, with our autumn bookfair raising over £3,000, and the One World Fair, out twentieth, being a fundraising as well as a campaigning success.

In all, we raised over £11,000 for Oxfam and for the DEC appeal for the Haitian earthquake this year. A full financial report will be presented to the AGM.

Winter get-together

The annual winter get-together (or Christmas meal if you prefer) is a chance tochat with members and helpers that have met only fleetingly during the year. This year's meal will be on Wednesday 15 December at the Bombay restaurant, 82 Walton Street, 7.30pm.

If you want to come along, please contact Jan or Tim by 12 December.

AGM/speaker meeting, 8 December

Thee OOG AGM will be on 8 December, and as usual, we'll be reviewing the year and electing the new Committee. We will have a speaker from Oxfam Campaigns on our current campaigning issues – to be confirmed, but it might be me!

The AGM is an important moment in the year for the Group, so please come along if you can. The venue this year is the Meeting Room, Friends' Meeting House, St. Giles, 7.30pm, and rumour has it that there's a social round the corner afterwards.

Agenda:

Review of the year
Treasurer's report
Election of new Committee
Speaker: Oxfam's current campaigns

One World Fair

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out at this year's Fair last weekend, which we now think was our twentieth! Here are a few pictures of the event. We can let everyone know how much money we made etc. once the final accounts have been done. There will be a debriefing meeting on 7 December, so we'll be able to report back soon!

Autumn Book Fair

Preparations for the autumn Book Fair are well in hand, with pricing starting recently, but lots of donations to sort and price between now and October 23rd. If you are interested in joining the pricing team, contact Helen or Naveed. We will shortly be contacting you about whether you can help on the day, but do let us know now if you are free. Also, if you can help with publicity beforehand, that would be amazing - posters and flyers are available now, so please ask. As old hands will know, there's lots to do on the Saturday and also on the previous Friday evening, loading and unloading the van for those who are happy with some moderately heavy lifting; and tidying, staffing the till, and placarding for those who aren't.

Lobby of Nicola Blackwood MP

Together whith Christian Aid and others, OOG has organised a lobby of new Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood. We have raised international development issues with all our MPs over the years, and as a new MP, we feel it's important for her to be aware of the strength of feeling in her constituency.

If you live in the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency (if you don't know, you can find out here), and are interested in going along, please contact Naveed. The lobby is on 20 September, and we hope to speak to her about the aid budget, the Millennium Development Goals, and climate change. A briefing will be available if you aren't confident to talk about these issues, but the main purpose of the meeting is to show her that people in her constituency care - it isn't to be experts or to win any arguments.

According to her website, she has advised the Conservate Party's international development team, so we anticipate a useful meeting.

I'm delighted to say that the amount raised by the OOG Walk has crossed the £1,600 mark! That's excellent (for comparison, we raised £1,155 last year). Thanks very much to everyone who has already sent in your walk money. If you haven't finished collecting, or have some papers on the sideboard waiting to send them to me, please do finish up as soon as you can now. I wonder whether we can top £2,000?

If you enjoyed the OOGWalk, you might also like to go on the South Downs Safari - two separate walks on 26 September and on 10 October, organized by the Portsmouth Action Group and supporting an Oxfam project to help families in Zimbabwe adapt to climate change. You can get a sponsor form and more details from the South Downs Safari website. If you would be interested in shared transport down to these walks, please let me know - we can possibly organise car-sharing (or a coach if there are enough numbers).

Who would be up for an OOGwalk 2011? We are already beginning to think of a route in Abingdon, and there's a pub on the route already....

DEC Pakistan Floods appeal

The DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella organisation for 13 humanitarian aid agencies) has announced an appeal to help the victims of the floods in Pakistan. OOG is working on what we can do as a group to help. In the meantime, please donate to the DEC appeal .

News and Oxfam's response
Oxfam's web page on the disaster

Audio Reports from Oxfam here:



And here is a short film about the appeal

You can also donate to Oxfam by text message: text 'DONATE' to 70066 to give £5. Oxfam will receive around 85% of your donation depending on your network provider. Plus standard rates apply for text.

OOG Walk 2010

Just wanted to report back from the OOG Walk on June 12. The weather was kind after rain earlier in the week, and 32 walkers set out. We asked people to estimate how much sponsorship they would bring in, and from adding that up we are forecasting that we'll raise £1,300. The youngest person being sponsored was Anna Baker (7) of the Eynsham Beavers. They have raised an amazing £100 (and their Virgin Money Giving page is still open for donations if you want to help them boost that further) .

The Treacle Well

The Oxford Oxfam Group Walk (12 June 2010) is a sponsored walk in the countryside around Oxford. There are so many unexpected an beautiful places on the route that we have given it the tagline "Discover a hidden world and change this one."

The places of interest along the route are brilliantly described in the walk booklet, written by local academic, author and OOG member Cyril Edwards. One passage explains how the "Treacle Well" got its name:

"...The main point of the detour, though, is St Margaret's, Binsey. Walk to the south end of the village, and then take the road to the right. (Ignore the awful noise from the Ring Road.) Follow the road for about a mile. A few houses and conifers, the trees of ancient Thornbury, mark your destination. Goats graze in an adjacent field. It's a simple little church, essentially 12thC, with some fine medieval glass in the east window. Legend has it that St Frideswide (c. 680-735), the patron saint of Oxford, built an oratory here in Saxon times. Here she also cured the Mercian prince Algar, her would-be seducer, of blindness, using water from St Margaret's Well, which she created by praying to St Margaret of Antioch, an obscure 5thC martyr. The well is still there in the churchyard, a place of pilgrimage. Both the church and the well were restored by T.J. Prout in the 19thC. Prout was a friend of Lewis Carroll – hence the 'treacle well' in Alice in Wonderland. In Middle English tryacle or triacle meant a medicinal compound or healing fluid, but the Dormouse appears to be ignorant of this:

'Once upon a time there were three little sisters,' the Dormouse began in a great hurry; 'and their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie; and they lived at the bottom of a well –'
'What did they live on?' said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.
'They lived on treacle,' said the Dormouse, after thinking a minute or two.
'They couldn't have done that, you know,' Alice gently remarked. 'They'd have been ill.'
'So they were,' said the Dormouse; 'very ill.' "

So there you go! Register for the Oxford Oxfam Group Walk, and have a great day in the country while raising money for Oxfam. Register at www.oogwalk.info - registration is free, and it really helps us to know how many walkers to expect.

Only 56 days until the OOG Walk!

Only 56 days until the OOG Walk! Happily, preparations are well under way!

Details of the day
12 June 2010
Discover a hidden world and change this one. A great family day out with a 5 mile or 12 mile option. Plenty of on the day entertainment including a quiz for the children. It is a lovely route taking in the best of Oxford starting and finishing from Lake Street. History, Scenery, Natural History, a range of good pubs: this walk has it all!

The start and finish point of the walk is the South Oxford Community Centre
Lake Street,
Oxford
OX1 4RP
Directions and other information about the South Oxford Community Centre

You can come and start the walk any time between 10am – 1pm. The office will close at 5pm (so don't start too late, or visit ALL the pubs!)

The route

Lake Street – New Hinksey – Osney – Binsey – Godstow – Wolvercote – Burgess Field Nature Park – Oxford Canal Walk – Mill Stream Walk – Grandpont – Lake Street

There is a shorter (5 mile) option
Lake Street – New Hinksey – Osney – Binsey –Oxford Canal Walk – Mill Stream Walk – Grandpont – Lake Street


You can register here : www.oogwalk.info (registration is free, and it helps us a lot to know how many walkers to expect)

Walkers can set up a web page to which you can direct friends, family, colleagues etc. They can sponsor you on the web page by credit card. This takes a lot of the hassle out of asking for sponsorship and collecting the cash (other Oxfam walks tell us that walkers who collect sponsorship this way raise three times more on average, compared with folks using paper forms). Sign up in a few simple steps from this page. Within a few minutes you can have your own sponsorship page! My own humble effort (just a few minutes work mind!) is here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ChrisBaker1

You can also keep up with walk news on twitter: @OOGWalk or http://twitter.com/oogwalk

Ask the Climate Question in East Oxford

And another chance to tackle our election candidates on development issues! Organised by Greenpeace, the East Oxford climate hustings are on Wednesday 21 April at 7.30 in Oxford town hall.

Details of the event are on the Ask the Climate Question website. And a handy election campaigning toolkit has been produced by Oxfam. It covers our two current campaigns at the moment - climate change, and also the proposed Robin Hood Tax to pay for international development and other public goods.

And if you can't come to the hustings or hassle your candidates on your doorstep, then you can email them, again, via the Oxfam website.

Election Hustings Oxford East

Monday 19th April, 7:30pm, Headington Baptist Church

(78 Old High Street, OX3 9HW)

Updated 12th April 2010.

Come along and question some prospective parliamentary candidates for Oxford East on issues related to Justice and Peace!

Issues on the agenda:

• Aid and Poverty
• Arms Trade
• Climate change
• Human Rights
• Nuclear disarmament

With:

Ed Argar (Conservative)

Sushila Dhall (Green)

Julia Gasper (UKIP)

Steve Goddard (Liberal Democrat)

Andrew Smith (Labour)

It is anticipated that a lot of people may want to attend this event, so please come along early if you want to get a seat! (Maximum capacity of the event is about 230).

Please contact me, rchristinetucker@hotmail.com, if you need any more information.

Spring Book Fair

Thanks to the hard work of a large number of people, we managed to raise a total of £2,175.41 at the Spring Book Fair this Saturday (27 March).

While this wasn't quite as much as we have made in some recent fairs, it's still a great result. Particular thanks go to the dedicated pricing team, and to Martin Spiers, who has done lots and lots of driving around in the last few weeks (how he manages to turn the van around at the end of Lake Street I do not know!).

The fair was relatively quiet this time, but with plenty of regulars in evidence, as well as people who saw the placards in the street. Sadly, we didn't make the programme of the Oxford Literary Festival, which usually more than compensates for the lack of students when we hold the fair outside term time.

Owing to some clever analysis of the till roll (not by me!), we should be able to work out how much we make from the different categories of books, and what the average spend is on each category, so hopefully we can make things even better next time. We reckon we had over 700 people through the doors, although it's very hard to be sure without counting them individually.

We have had some lovely books given to us over the last few weeks, so thanks also to all those who donated or who sourced or collected donations. My favourite titles included "What not to wear on a horse" (sadly still unsold at the end), "Human problems and how to solve them", and "Wallabies in the loo". For anyone thinking of getting involved (we will be starting work on the October fair over the summer), coming across crazy titles is one of the joys of pricing.

Lastly, I particularly want to thank the Oxford Phab Club, whose membership of disabled and able-bodied people have been cheerfully serving drinks and lunches at the book fair for 16 years now, and who did a fantastic job as always.

Oxford Oxfam Group Walk - 12 June 2010

There will be a sponsored walk on 12 June 2010
It is a lovely route from Lake Street – New Hinksey – Osney – Binsey – Godstow – Wolvercote – Burgess Field Nature Park – Oxford Canal Walk – Mill Stream Walk – Grandpont – Lake Street

That comes to 10 miles in total, but there is a 5 mile option for those preferring a shorter route.
We have set up a web page on which you can register to take part - please do so, and encourage friends and colleagues to do so too. Word of mouth from OOG members is a way we can get a lot of people to turn out and walk. It is likely to be as effective or more than any amount of advertising. So please, do spread the word to your network. We will shortly have set up a "virginmoney giving" page (it's pretty much the same as "justgiving" - a system that allows you to request sponsorship by email rather than needing to trudge round with a paper form).
Publicity work is getting under way - as a starter we have a twitter account (@OOGWalk) if you use twitter, please follow us and help us spread the word.
If you have contacts with local groups that might want to do the walk, please do let them know. Or if shy, let me know (volunteer@oxfordoxfamgroup.org.uk ). We have a great route, & just need to get walkers out there in order to turn this into a really good fundraiser.

Chile Earthquake

The second big quake of 2010 hit Chile on 27 February. An Oxfam team went in on March 1st, and you can read about Oxfam's response to the Chile Earthquake here.

At present it does not look likely that there will be a DEC appeal. There is not at present an Oxfam appeal specifically for Chile - supporting Oxfam's fundraising for emergencies around the world is currently the way in which we are helping - for example by making our Bookfair on 27 March (at the Wesley Memorial Church, New Inn Hall Street, Oxford) as successful as possible.

Haiti appeal fully funded

Oxfam announced yesterday that the Haiti appeal is now fully funded. Oxfam has raised enough money to fund its Haitian work for the next 3-5 years. Worth remembering though that Haiti is only one of 26 disasters worldwide where Oxfam is at work, not to mention all the vital non-disaster development and campaigning work that Oxfam does. So we won't be relaxing our fundraising efforts just yet :-)

Headington Fairtrade Co-operative

I am very happy to let you know that the Headington Fairtrade Co-operative has now signed a lease for 104 London Road (the former opticians next to Cartridge World).

Redecoration will start immediately, followed by furnishing and stocking. They hope to have the official opening on Tuesday 2 March at 12.30 pm, during Fair Trade Fortnight, but they will be trading before then.

If there is anyone who might be interested in helping to run the shop by joining in a 3-hour shift, or in any other way, and have not already volunteered, please could you contact Joyce Clapp (Ox 765554 or joycemclapp@tiscali.co.uk). Training for volunteers will commence very shortly. And when the shop opens please buy as much as you can there and encourage your friends to do likewise!

(Apologies if this is not an appropriate forum to post this but thought it was good news that people may want to support.)

Haiti Earthquake appeal - street collection result

Our street collection for the Haiti DEC appeal yesterday has proved to be our most successful street collection ever. We deployed over 50 collectors to the Oxford City Centre and collected an amazing £3,335. Both those statistics are records (we collected nearly as much for the Asian Tsunami, but a lot of that came from generous individual donations as opposed to via the collecting tin). The Christian Aid collection at the Westgate Centre and a Red Cross event the same day also did really well, we hear.

So hats off to our Street Collection team of Martin Spires and Annie Thomas, brilliantly aided by Naveed, Ally and Colin. You see Martin and Annie in the picture with the Ops map of Oxford (magic Marker crosses for each collector currently out on the street). Colin (in blue) and Ally (invisible behind Annie) are counting the cash - among the challenges of such a big collection was that of managing a near-continuous cycle of emptying tins, counting the cash and resealing the tin for the next collector. A hectic pace all day. Naveed (seen just as a brown jumper) is checking the collectors' rota.

Hats off too, of course for the many collectors who braved the cold, damp weather to bring in the cash. And the generous people of Oxford for donating it.

Also out on Broad Street doing their thing for Haiti. (but not included in our total) was this magnificent Salsa Band. My windy collection post was the corner of Broad Street and Cornmarket, so I added a bit of amateur percussion with my tin. Hope I stayed in time...

Haiti Earthquake appeal - Street collection in Oxford 23 January

We are organizing a street collection in Oxford City Centre for the Haiti DEC appeal this coming Saturday (23 January). Based at the Oxford Town Hall, we will be putting collectors onto the streets from 9.30 - 16.00.

We're all set. What we need now to maximise the money we can collect is every last person we can get onto the streets with a collecting tin for an hour or so. Oxford is a big place, and the collection needs all the volunteers we can get in order to raise the kind of money the Haiti appeal so desperately needs.

Can you help? Email us at volunteer@oxfordoxfamgroup.org.uk to tell us what time you can be there.

Haiti Earthquake

A major earthquake has struck Haiti, just ten miles from the capital Port-au-Prince. Oxfam is rushing in teams from around the region to respond where we're needed most.
Click here for the latest about the Haiti Eartquake emergency,

New Year's Resolutions

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions? How are you doing?

The classic advice is to

1. Make a specific, but realistic commitment (e.g. "moderate exercise 2 times a week", not "do more exercise" or "loads and loads of exercise every day");
2. Don't give up the first time (or few times) that things don't go to plan;
3. Have ways to keep yourself motivated.

The Oxford Oxfam Group can't really help with the first two, but why not keep yourself motivated by raising money for OOG as you go?

There are lots of ways to do that, for example:

• You decided to cut out that pastry with your coffee each day. Or you gave up smoking. Collect up the saved money and donate it to Oxfam via OOG
• You have a bad habit you want to lose. Fine yourself a donation to OOG each time you do it (tip: family or co-workers will be EXCELLENT at pointing out each time you slip up :-) ).
• Make a small donation to OOG for each day (or each time) you manage to stick with your resolution. For example, you went to the gym today as planned. Good for you. Good for OOG too if you can put an affordable sum in a jar to celebrate and watch it mount up.
• Promise to make a donation if you reach a specific goal (or, if this works better for you, make a donation if you DON'T reach your goal).
  

Please do not feel that the amounts of money have to be painful to be effective. Let's take the pastry example. Maybe your pastry costs you £1 each working day. That's £5 per week; you could have £20 or more for Oxfam in just one month. Remember this isn't actually costing you anything (you would have spent the money on pastries)! Fine to time-limit this or only donate a share of the saving if that works best for you. Let's not do nothing just because we can't do something really spectacular.

Collaboration is another great way of staying motivated.

• Involve your friends, family or co-workers. Whole office giving up the pastries? Ask them to donate the saving (or some of the saving) too. Backsliding suddenly becomes that much more difficult. You could easily and quickly get over the £100 mark.
  
• Let's do this together as OOG members! Let the rest of us know what you're doing (comment on this post, or email us at volunteer@oxfordoxfamgroup.org.uk). We can have fundraising totals, a leader board and so on. By the way, no need to share the details of what you are giving up/taking if it feels kinda personal.
  

Once you've collected some money, write us a cheque (payable to Oxford Oxfam Group) and post it to the Treasurer with a brief note explaining what it is for. If you need an address for that cheque, email volunteer@oxfordoxfamgroup.org.uk to ask for details.

At one time in OOG's history we used to raise significant amounts from this kind of low-key small fundraising by individual members. It's a tradition I'm keen to revive.

Rose Easton

We received some sad news recently – of the death of OOG Member Rose Easton, aged 89. Rose's involvement in Oxfam began with cooking for fundraising lunches in the 1960s, progressed via many other activities to working on reception in Oxfam House, and after her official retirement she volunteered in Oxfam House and the Oxfam Book Shop.

Rose joined OOG a few years after its 1988 beginning. By that time the sale of second-hand goods was in full swing and a substantial earner for OOG, and she eventually contributed greatly to that with her 'Bygones' range of memorabilia. Rose ran her 'Bygones' stall monthly at a number of venues, including Woodstock antiques fair, for many years, raising thousands of pounds for OOG and Oxfam. She became expert in pricing a wide range of goods (and in charming other stallholders into giving free valuations) and as somebody who could talk very persuasively, never let a sale get away.

Over time the memorabilia stall evolved into the 'Nostalgia' stall which appeared at every Book Fair. For many years, visitors to the Book Fair included people who had come especially to browse her stall. In this way she raised hundreds of pounds at the Book Fairs. Rose often recalled a supporters' trip she took with Oxfam to India and the experiences and insights she gained into other lives. Her enthusiasm and determination will be missed by those who knew her. An example to us all. If there were only more of her, think how different the world might be...

Thanks to Tina Fawcett, Helen O'Neill, Pete Sulston and David Green for their contributions to this short tribute to Rose.

Did you know Rose, or have something to share about her contribution to OOG? Please add a comment to this post.

Blog housekeeping

I've just added some things to the right-hand sidebar:

• A link to our signup form for email newsletters and alerts
• A search box
• A "feed" from Oxfam on Twitter - so that content "tweeted" by Oxfam appears here.

Useful? Irrelevant? Not working? Let me know...

Who's going to drive us home, tonight?

Do you have a car or other vehicle and would you be willing to drive people, equipment or stock for the Oxford Oxfam Group? For example, collecting a donation of books for the Book Fair and taking it to our store for sorting. Journeys are likely to be a few miles only, and we're unlikely to need you more than a few times a year. It would be a very useful way to help out on an occasional basis if you can't give much time to OOG this year, and it would spread the work beyond the "usual suspects" who currently get asked time after time. I'd like to collect a list of Driver volunteers - if you are willing to be on that list, please email me - volunteer@oxfordoxfamgroup.org.uk