Thursday 24 November 2011

One World Fair - thanks to all who helped!

The 21st One World Fair was another success, thanks to everyone who helepd out on the day and in the run-up. As always, it was a long and tiring day for a number of hard-working volunteers (you know who you are!), with a very busy cafe operation selling out of food quite early on. The Nick Gill trio added to the ambience in the cafe, and while stallholders reported slower than usual sales in the main hall, and the number of visitors was a bit down on previous years, there was nevertheless a good buzz of activity throughout the day, and in total, we made almost £1,800 of from running the fair (taking account of the cafe, room hire and income from stalls, but excluding the Oxfam shop presence).

The workgroup met to debrief on Tuesday, and we plan to survey all our stallholders to ask how it went for them, including any ideas they can give us for improving the event. All ideas are welcome - as well as offers to get involved in running the next one! Work on the 22nd One World Fair will start in May 2012.



Jan Tansley from Broad Street shop on the Oxfam stall

Monday 14 November 2011

OOG's busy autumn!

It's normal for autumn to be OOG's busiest time of year, and our biggest event of the year, the One World Fair, is now less than a week away! It's this Saturday, 19th November, at Oxford Town Hall, and should be, as always, a colourful event, with a host of fairtrade retailers booked in, alongside local campaigning organisations on development and the environment - and of course, our vegetarian cafe. Offers of help (and particularly donations of food for the cafe) are very welcome - please reply to this post. Doors open at 10am, it ends at 4.30pm. 50p admission - bargain!



The One World Fair follows hard on the heels of the autumn Book Fair on 22 October. Our former book fair supremo Helen O'Neill having gone to Madagascar for a year, our new co-ordinator Jon Mazliah and the stalwart team of pricers and helpers on the day did a sterling job, confounding last-minute worries that we might not have enough stock or volunteers. But we pulled it off, raising a very creditable £2, 370. Very many thanks to everyone who did their bit. Dates of the spring book fair are still to be confirmed.


Forthcoming events are the AGM, on 7 December in the Short Room, Friends' Meeting House, from 7.30pm, where we'll be electing the new Committee, and the now-traditional OOG curry night at the Bombay restaurant in Jericho on 14 December.