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.