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.