Get ready for the One World Fair 2013

Oxford Town Hall will be hosting The Oxfam One World Fair on Saturday 16th November 2013.

The Oxford Oxfam Group is proud to present the 24th One World Fair at Oxford Town Hall. All profits this year will go towards Oxfam's Syria Crisis Appeal. Oxfam has already helped 200,000 refugees and we are aiming to reach up to 650,000 people in Syria, as well as in neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan. We are providing both food aid and sanitation facilities.

Our fair at Oxford Town Hall will havearound 50 stalls selling the best in crafts, Fair Trade produce, seasonal gifts and toys. We will also have a vegetarian café and live music. Doors are open between 10am and 4pm. Entry is 50p, but free for children and seniors.

OOG lobbies Andrew Smith MP on corporate tax dodgers

This afternoon at 2 pm, members of the Oxford Oxfam Group lobbied Oxford East MP Andrew Smith, dressed as George Osbournes!

Borrowing the costumes from Oxfam HQ, we dressed as the Chancellor to protest that, despite the positive noises made at June's G8 summit, nothing has actually been done to stop powerful global companies avoiding paying tax in developing countries, money which is vitally needed to overcome poverty. In fact, a recent amendment to the UK's Finance Bill which would have made it harder for companies to avoid paying tax in developing countries was overturned.

Chris Garrard, a student campaigner with Oxfam, said:

‘We've dressed as George Osborne to highlight that it is the treasury who need to take the lead on making company ownership information public. Many large companies have set-up and use ‘phantom firms’, dummy businesses where they avoid tax by stashing away profits overseas. Proposed amendments to the recent finance bill that would have started to tackle this issue were defeated but with the backing of local MPs like Andrew, we can apply the pressure to make sure the call for change isn't ignored.’

The ‘Enough Food IF’ campaign is raising the issue of tax dodging as just one of the root causes of why 1 billion people around the world go hungry every day. Developing countries currently lose more every year through various forms of ‘tax dodging’ than they receive in aid – more than enough money to end global hunger twice over. Andrew agreed to raise our concern with the government, having already supported the Enough Food for Everyone...IF campaign at its Oxford launch back in January.

The Enough Food For Everyone...IF coalition is asking supporters to Tweet David Cameron to stop 'phantom' companies being set up purely to avoid paying tax. If you use Twitter, please take this action.

Naturally, straight after our lobby meeting, we Tweeted, and put a link up on OOG's Facebook page, so please share if you can!

Anniversary walk this Sunday

We had our final workgroup meeting last night and are all set for Sunday's walk. We'll have route booklets, water and cereal bars for the walkers and an opportunity to buy raffle tickets (to win some fantastic prizes!), OOG anniversary badges and cake after the walk.

Please join us (registration 10-11am at St Ebbe's School, Whitehouse Road, OX1 4NA) this Sunday for an 11-mile stroll to help us celebrate our 25th anniversary. Entry fee is £5 (concessions £3) and no sponsorship is required.

St Ebbe's School – Folly Bridge – Kennington – Bagley Wood – Bayworth – Sunningwell – Boars Hill – Chilswell Farm – South Hinksey – South Oxford Community Centre

Oxford Oxfam Anniversary Walk

We turned 25 years old this week and have received birthday cards from lots of different groups and supporters. It's now just over 2 weeks till our anniversary walk on Sunday 19th May. The weather's finally started to improve so we've got everything crossed for a fine day. Please join us for an 11-mile stroll starting at St Ebbe's School between 10-11am. Contact racheliliffe@yahoo.co.uk to register your interest or just turn up on the day! No sponsorship is required and the entry fee is £5 (concessions £3). St Ebbe's School – Folly Bridge – Kennington – Bagley Wood – Bayworth – Sunningwell – Boars Hill – Chilswell Farm – South Hinksey – South Oxford Community Centre

How many Georges?

OOG members, together with members of the Oxford University Student Oxfam group, got up very early indeed on Tuesday 19 March, the day before the Budget, to lobby Chancellor George Osbourne to keep the Government's promise to increase the UK's international aid budget to 0.7% of our national income in 2013.

This national media stunt included 500 people dressing up as George, and getting photographed with the iconic red budget boxes all over London, before a mass photo-shoot in parliament Square, which reached national and international media. All the Georges spelt out the words 'IF' when seen from above - the name of the joint campaign, of which Oxfam is a part, to get fair access to food for everyone across the world, for which aid is a necessary though far from sufficient condition.

Unfortunately we can't confirm exactly which Georges were OOG members in these photographs!

Since the stunt, we had the great news that the Chancellor did actually make his historic announcement to meet the target this year, making the UK the first G8 country to do so. Details are at http://enoughfoodif.org/latest/budget-thank-you.

This is a 43-year old commitment, and OOG members past and present should feel proud of their part in this achievement, which is something we've been lobbying our politicians for for the entire life of the Group!

Join us to celebrate 25 years

OOG is 25 years old in April and to celebrate we’re organising an anniversary walk on Sunday 19 May. We’re hoping to bring members (old and new) together to enjoy the day, as well as attracting new members.The walk will be a rural, circular, 8-mile route starting from Oxford and heading through the village of Sunningwell and into Boar’s Hill. There will be the opportunity to buy OOG anniversary t-shirts and some well-earned cakes and other refreshments when you’ve finished.

There’s a dedicated workgroup organising the event but we need members to come forward to help with the following:

• Do you have any memorabilia (photos, facts or stats) for a display about OOG’s work over the last 25 years? We’d love to hear from you if so!
• If you don’t want to do the walk itself, we need volunteers to man the Lake Street stall, signing walkers in and out and selling cakes and t-shirts.
• We need cakes and biscuits to sell to the hungry walkers. If you think you can help, please let us know.
• We’ll post more updates very soon – please watch this space for how to get involved. We’d love you to join us.

This event is about celebrating the great things we've achieved as the Oxford Oxfam Group. As celebrations aren't usually onerous, we've decided not to ask you to fundraise as part of the walk (though if you'd really like to that's fine too) - we're just hoping as many people as possible can come and enjoy the walk with us. In order to cover the costs of running the event, there will be a small entry fee of £5 (£3 concessions). We look forward to seeing you there.

IF campaign launched in Oxford!

The 'Enough Food For Everyone...IF' campaign, a new multi-agency campaign against hunger, launched in Oxford with an open-air breakfast in freezing weather outside St Michael's of Northgate, Cornmarket Street, today (24 January) at 10am.

The IF campaign is for an end to the unnecessary hunger and malnutrition which blights the lives of millions, in a world in which there is enough food to go round. We are calling for:

• an end to the land grabs by big companies that leave families landless, hungry, and destitute
• an end to tax avoidance by companies, so that governments have enough income to support their farming sectors
• an increase to international aid in line with the decades-old promise to increase it to 0.7% of our national income
• transparency among companies and governments so we can see what they are actually doing to help or hinder people's access to food.

Guests at the campaign launch, including MP Andrew Smith, and local representatives of the groups involved in the campaign (including me) were lucky enough to have real bread and jam, tea and coffee - I had assumed it would be faked for the photoshoot!

Hardy volunteers including Caroline Brown and Jan and Tim Treacher explained the campaign to curious passers by, as the rest of us did the hard work of sitting and quaffing while being photographed for the Oxford Mail (your turn next time guys!).

Left to right: Paula Clifford, Abigail McMillan (CAFOD), Andrew Smith MP, Jessica Hall (Christian Aid), Rev. Bob Wilkes (St Michael's of Northgate), Maranda St John Nicolle (Christian Concern for One World), Naveed Chaudhri (Oxfam), Pip Micklem (Save the Children).

Many thanks to Christian Aid for leading this event.