Dear All,
I’m sure you have all heard about the devastating earthquake which has hit Haiti just ten miles from the capital city. Local officials are reporting a major catastrophe in one of the poorest countries in the world. The Disasters Emergency Committee has launched an appeal which Oxfam is an important part of. Oxfam has a 100-strong team working in Haiti as prt of this. You can follow the progress of Oxfam’s emergency response at: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/emergencies/haiti-earthquake.html
When a disaster of such huge proportions occurs, we often ask our campaigners to help us with fundraising efforts as the need for funds is so urgent. Here in Bath, we'd like to organise a collection at Bath train station on Monday morning (18th January) approximately 7 - 9am (when we can catch most commuters!!). We haven't finalised this with the First Great Western Management, but hope to do this very soon. Can you spare 30 - 45minutes to help us hold a bucket?? It may not seem like much time, but it could mean the world of difference to someone whose lost everything.
If you can help, please email me at oxfambath@yahoo.co.uk with the times you could offer, and I will contact you over the weekend with final details of the rota.
If you can't help on Monday, don't worry - there are many other ways that you can help!! Here are a few other ideas:
At work:
1) Ask your boss if everyone can leave early today and avoid the last of the snow traffic - in return for donations of course!
2) Raffle a day off! Of course, your boss will have to agree to donate one day of annual leave first, but once you’ve convinced them, sell raffle tickets at £5 or £10 each and you’ll make money fast.
3) Hold a dress down day and cake sale - ask everyone to bake cakes and pay £2 for the privilege of dressing casually for work.
4) Arrange a loose change collection or introduce a swear or acronym box in your office, every time someone swears or uses an acronym, they have to put 50p in the Oxfam collection box.
At home:
1) Arrange a bucket collection - contact your local supermarket, shopping centre, football club or music venue and ask them if you can apply to hold a bucket collection for Oxfam. Railway station platforms at peak travel times are a great place for bucket collections too – contact the station manager to arrange this. Gather together your friends and family to collect on the day and you could raise hundreds of pounds in just a few hours!
2) Invite friends round for a dinner party, but instead of asking them to bring a bottle of wine, ask them to bring a donation for Haiti - it’s amazing how generous people can be.
3) Organise a fundraising event - it could be a quiz at your local pub, a themed party or just a big snowball fight if you have enough snow left!
4) Undertake to be sponsored for something - you could walk to work, shave your head or stay silent for a whole day…
We’re hoping to get materials to help you fundraise, such as DEC posters, Oxfam balloons, badges etc., and of course you will need official Oxfam collection boxes if you are doing any public fundraising. We’re still working on the best way of getting these to you so in the meantime please contact Fiona on fremnant@oxfam.org.uk, or call 0117 916 6482 if you want to order any materials.
