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
Monday, 13 May 2013
Friday, 3 May 2013
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
Monday, 8 April 2013
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.
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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!
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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!
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
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:
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.
Thursday, 24 January 2013
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:
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, 22 November 2012
A successful 23rd One World Fair!
Very many thanks to everyone who helped out in any way at last weekend's One World Fair. From the people doing sterling work in the cafe and kitchen, to those on our campaigning and book selling stall, and everyone who placarded, cooked, advertised, or helped in any other way, you were all part of its success. Particular thanks must go to Tim and Jan, Ally and Martin, and all their friends and relations (and others) who worked so hard behind the scenes and in the run-up to the event.
Oxford Student Oxfam Group member Chris Garrard took some great photos of the event and made a short video - if you can get on Facebook, have a look at them here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/2238260390/
Our stall was graced by this rather colourful 7-foot high cardboard cut-out "Food Superhero". We spoke to quite a lot of people about Oxfam's GROW campaign, and asked childern to colour in their own superhero pictures - lots of fun. Thanks to Joella, Caroline and Charlotte for making our Superhero, named Felicity by a young visitor to our stall!
Total takings from the Fair were a very creditable £918.05. This included the sale of food, books from our stall, money from the door, and taking account of the cost of hiring the hall and profits from stalls.
Very many thanks to everyone who helped out in any way at last weekend's One World Fair. From the people doing sterling work in the cafe and kitchen, to those on our campaigning and book selling stall, and everyone who placarded, cooked, advertised, or helped in any other way, you were all part of its success. Particular thanks must go to Tim and Jan, Ally and Martin, and all their friends and relations (and others) who worked so hard behind the scenes and in the run-up to the event.
Oxford Student Oxfam Group member Chris Garrard took some great photos of the event and made a short video - if you can get on Facebook, have a look at them here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/2238260390/
Our stall was graced by this rather colourful 7-foot high cardboard cut-out "Food Superhero". We spoke to quite a lot of people about Oxfam's GROW campaign, and asked childern to colour in their own superhero pictures - lots of fun. Thanks to Joella, Caroline and Charlotte for making our Superhero, named Felicity by a young visitor to our stall!
Total takings from the Fair were a very creditable £918.05. This included the sale of food, books from our stall, money from the door, and taking account of the cost of hiring the hall and profits from stalls.
OOG's 25th anniversary isn't far off!
One of OOG's founder members and former Chair, David Green, wrote to the Commitee this week to tell us that it's almost 25 years since we were founded. David writes:
"Can this possibly be true? Google tells me that a banana split 455 miles long broke the world record on 30 April 1988. Well, I'm not surprised. Also on that day Stephen Fry delivered his famous funny monologue version of the BBC's weather forecast. "
"Google doesn't add that on that same day the Oxford Oxfam Group was born, born in the sense that it held its first event on that memorable Saturday. It was an event, neither fundraising, nor campaigning, that simply invited Oxford's public to St Michael's Church in Cornmarket, to talk about world poverty and Oxfam's responses; here, in the downstairs room, six people set to to let guests know that a new Oxfam Group was on the block. And that it meant business. The event was called, modestly, 'Time for a Chat'. New members were quickly forthcoming."
"Because you are all brilliant at maths, you will quickly have worked out the relationship between 30 April 1988 and 30 April 2013, and that 30 April 2013 marks OOG's 25th birthday!"
"Now, the Group didn't celebrate its 20th birthday in any special way, but I guess you will agree with me that a quarter century should not go unrecorded. I have asked Naveed to make sure that Oxfam's staff and Director know that the volunteer Group on their doorstep has reached a milestone that everyone can be proud of. But, as your sole founder member, I asked if I might make an approach to you all and to urge you to consider how you could help to mark the occasion. For myself, if there were enough people interested I would be glad to lead a walk along the route of the original OOGWalk. This was the one that in the 1990s took you from Hinksey up to Youlbury and Boars Hill, then back through Happy Valley to Lake Street, a distance of some 12 miles. Will you suggest and help organize another appropriate marker?"
"Since those six people (Bridget Browne, Tessa Brodetsky, David Brookes, Mark Haeffner, Graham Hooper and I) pushed the boat out in 1988, many hundreds of people have pulled at the OOG oars. Many thousands of pounds have been raised for Oxfam's work – well into six figures. Dozens of campaigns have been supported, and many schools introduced to development education. Though Oxfam's work will never be done, though we may all be ashamed that still, in 2012, countless millions of people still live in terrible poverty, yet we can take some comfort from the fact that we have allied ourselves with a great, honest and just cause. And we have done it through the Oxford Oxfam Group. Let's mark this birthday!"
David
I hope that we'll be able to discuss this proposal at our AGM, coming up on 6 December - please do come along (you'll also get the chance to hear about Oxfam's work in Bangladesh).
One of OOG's founder members and former Chair, David Green, wrote to the Commitee this week to tell us that it's almost 25 years since we were founded. David writes:
"Google doesn't add that on that same day the Oxford Oxfam Group was born, born in the sense that it held its first event on that memorable Saturday. It was an event, neither fundraising, nor campaigning, that simply invited Oxford's public to St Michael's Church in Cornmarket, to talk about world poverty and Oxfam's responses; here, in the downstairs room, six people set to to let guests know that a new Oxfam Group was on the block. And that it meant business. The event was called, modestly, 'Time for a Chat'. New members were quickly forthcoming."
"Because you are all brilliant at maths, you will quickly have worked out the relationship between 30 April 1988 and 30 April 2013, and that 30 April 2013 marks OOG's 25th birthday!"
"Now, the Group didn't celebrate its 20th birthday in any special way, but I guess you will agree with me that a quarter century should not go unrecorded. I have asked Naveed to make sure that Oxfam's staff and Director know that the volunteer Group on their doorstep has reached a milestone that everyone can be proud of. But, as your sole founder member, I asked if I might make an approach to you all and to urge you to consider how you could help to mark the occasion. For myself, if there were enough people interested I would be glad to lead a walk along the route of the original OOGWalk. This was the one that in the 1990s took you from Hinksey up to Youlbury and Boars Hill, then back through Happy Valley to Lake Street, a distance of some 12 miles. Will you suggest and help organize another appropriate marker?"
"Since those six people (Bridget Browne, Tessa Brodetsky, David Brookes, Mark Haeffner, Graham Hooper and I) pushed the boat out in 1988, many hundreds of people have pulled at the OOG oars. Many thousands of pounds have been raised for Oxfam's work – well into six figures. Dozens of campaigns have been supported, and many schools introduced to development education. Though Oxfam's work will never be done, though we may all be ashamed that still, in 2012, countless millions of people still live in terrible poverty, yet we can take some comfort from the fact that we have allied ourselves with a great, honest and just cause. And we have done it through the Oxford Oxfam Group. Let's mark this birthday!"
David
I hope that we'll be able to discuss this proposal at our AGM, coming up on 6 December - please do come along (you'll also get the chance to hear about Oxfam's work in Bangladesh).
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