Oxfam Bath

Interested in Football? Following the World Cup? Then follow The Ball!!

Janine — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:22:26 +0000

Hi All,

As the World Cup in South Africa draws ever nearer, there is more and more focus on football - and footballs!! You may be interested to know of a unique project which began just down the road from us in Radstock - Spirit of Football!!

Every four years, a legendary football – The Ball – makes the journey from Battersea Park, London (where the very first FA-rules football match was played) to the Opening Ceremony of the Football World Cup. This year "The Ball" has been hand–made by Alive & Kicking, it is a durable, repairable football made especially for difficult playing surfaces in Africa. Though it doesn't bear the Fairtrade mark, it encompasses a lot of the values of Fairtrade, and Alive and Kicking are hoping to apply for Fairtrade status for their products very soon!

Follow The Ball in any of the following ways:

Facebook Group: <http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=68935659048>
Facebook Fan Page: <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spirit-Of-Football/162487818267>
The above may change to something simpler - we want people to be fans of The Ball, not the CIC after all!
Twitter: <http://twitter.com/the_ball>
Current blog: <http://www.spiritoffootball.com/2010/blog/>
Please note: all blogs will shortly move to: <http://theball.tv/> I'm finalising the design and implementation at the moment.

And remember, you can buy your own Fairtrade footballs from a variety of locations in Bath this summer (including our very own Coral Quay shop on New Bond St!

Oxfam Bath

Educating Girls in Pakistan - can we achieve the Millennium Development Goals?

Janine — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:40:44 +0000

Start: 26/03/2010 - 19:30

End: 26/03/2010 - 21:30

We're really lucky to be having a visit from Shakar Arab, Oxfam's Programme Officer in Pakistan, who is making a flying visit to the UK during March!!

Come and hear his unique on the ground experience of Oxfam's project work helping those in need, and find out the impact our money, and campainging effort, really makes.

Friday March 26th
7.30pm
Cafe at the Centre, Manvers St Baptist Church, Bath
Free admission!!

Refreshments Available

Hosted jointly with UNA-Bath (http://www.unabath.org.uk)

If you can think of somewhere to distribute and display the attached poster, please download it or contact oxfambath@yahoo.co.uk for printed copies!

Oxfam Bath

Mothers Day Stall - urgent volunteer call

Janine — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:24:10 +0000

Hi All,

As you may have seen we are hoping to run a stall on Saturday morning (March 13th) to publicise a campaign highlighting several gender issues (maternal mortality; female education etc) http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/campaign/actions/mothers_day.html?i...

At the minute, we don't have enough volunteers to run this stall. If there is any chance you could spare half an hour, please email oxfambath@yahoo.co.uk as soon as possible. If you can't, don't worry, but we would really appreciate even one or two more people to help us spread the word of this important campaign throughout Bath....

Thank You

Oxfam Bath

Urgent Action - get Don Foster to pressure the Lib Dem leadership on Robin Hood!!

Janine — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:56:36 +0000

Hi All,

Sorry there has been a bit of a bombardment from Oxfam Bath of late - there is a lot going on!! And there is 1 more action which it would be great if you could urgently do. Don't worry, you can do it from the comfort of the chair you are sat in whilst reading this!

You may know that the Lib Dems are generally supportive of the idea of the Robin Hood Tax (www.robinhoodtax.org.uk - charge the bankers 0.05% on some transactions to raise loadsa money for development work & essential UK services). They are on the brink of going public and supporting it as a party BUT they haven't done so yet – this is where YOU come in….

Please urgently contact Don Foster asking him to: (feel free to copy and paste the text into an email!!)

1. Support the Robin Hood Tax campaign – a Financial Transaction Tax will raise tens of billions of pounds for the UK to spend on tackling child poverty and preventing cuts to public services
2.Think about the need for more affordable housing in Bath, and how a financial transaction tax can raise the money needed to tackle this and other local problems
4. Write to Nick Clegg & Vince Cable urgently, asking them to support a full Robin Hood Tax (financial transaction tax). Their idea of a 10% tax on bank’s profits in the UK is a great idea BUT doesn’t go far enough – we need a financial transaction tax – which will raise the money both to tackle the UK’s budget deficit and help poor countries tackle poverty and climate change

You can contact Don by emailing don@donfoster.co.uk - or you can tweet him - @DonFosterMP :)

Please let me know if you are able to do this and I can let Oxfam know we are pilin gon the pressure!!

Janine

Oxfam Bath

Mothers Day Action to save women's lives... Volunteers needed!

Janine — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:14:14 +0000

Start: 13/03/2010 - 09:00

End: 13/03/2010 - 12:30

Oxfam is part of a coalition working to raise awareness of maternal health and mortality this Mother's Day. There are 2 actions they are asking people to do:

- Sign an e-card yourself here: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/campaign/actions/mothers_day.html asking our party political leaders to sign up to a Mum's Manifesto. This asks the next UK government to:

- Increase financing for maternal, newborn and child health internationally
- Place maternal, newborn and child health at the heart of all health systems
- Make sexual and reproductive rights a reality for women and girls

- Get members of the public to sign a real life card including the same Manifesto. It's a lovely (the front can be seen in the weblink above!). The details are laid out on the card, and people can sign one to each leader, so two cards in one go! To get as many people in Bath to sign as possible, we’re holding a stall in Green Park Station on March 13^th between 9am – 1pm. Can you spare an hour to help man the stall?! If so, please email oxfambath@yahoo.co.uk, it would be lovely to see you there :)

Let’s show Gordon, David & Nick what the people of Bath think!!

Hope you can make it on the 13^th

Janine

Oxfam Bath

Have you added your Fairtrade swap to the Swap-o-meter?!

Janine — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:19:47 +0000

Fellow Fairtraders,

It's Week 2 of the Big Swap and the Fairtrade Foundation's Swap-o-meter is reading just over half way to one-million-and-one swaps to Fairtrade products!!!

Amazing response, but still a long way to go. There are 3 things you can do to help prove that the Britain wants a fairer way of trading…

1. Register your own Fairtrade swap. So if you've bought Fairtrade bananas or chocolate, a coffee from Cafédirect or Starbucks, or something more unusual like Fairtrade flowers, peanut butter or olive oil, click on www.thebigswap.org.uk to put your contribution on record and your name in lights.

2. Persuade your friends to register their Fairtrade swaps!!

3. If you have run an event/held a coffe morning, register any swaps you've managed to get people to commit to!

When FTF reach one-million-and-one swaps, every swapper will be entered into a competition to win your very own tea party."Many raindrops make mighty rivers flow." Fairtrade is all about the sum of many actions, however small.

Join in the Big Swap this Fairtrade Fortnight…www.thebigswap.org.uk

One million and one ... We can do it!

Oxfam Bath

Oxfam Bath is growing - can you help?!

Janine — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:47:52 +0000

Hi All,

2010 will be an interesting campaign year for Oxfam - the Robin Hood Tax Campaign is causing a stir, we'll soon be in the grip of election fever & not to mention the December climate change conference to try and sort the Copenhagen fisaco.....

Here in Bath there is lots to be done to support Oxfam by raising awareness of their campaigning work, and so we've created some new roles within Oxfam Bath to help with this!! Do you have a passion for politics? Or an enthusiasm for organising events? Just some of the skills that we are looking for to spread the word of Oxfam far and wide!!

The attached document outlines the roles that we have: Political Campaigner; Media Campaigner; Events Co-ordinator; Website Manager & Publicity Campaigner. Do take a look at the roles, and if one takes your fancy, email oxfambath@yahoo.co.uk!

There will still also be chance to volunteer on a less frequent basis when we organise campaign stalls or emergency collections etc, but if you think you can spare a little more time, then your efforts will be very appreciated and will really help Oxfam get the word out about how we can work together to change the world....

Oxfam Bath

The Oxfam Enabler has landed!

Janine — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:54:21 +0000

Have you ever wished you could find like-minded people near you to campaign alongside? Ever wondered what difference your actions make in relation to the bigger picture? How about building up an online toolbox of Oxfam guides and tools to help you? Sounds great doesn’t it…?

Dream no more, The Enabler is here! Oxfam’s new online activist tool that we think is the cutting edge of campaigning. It’s a simple website that allows you to exist online as an Oxfam campaigner and link up with other campaigners around the country. Think of it as the one-stop shop for all your Oxfam activities and needs.

Go to www.oxfamblogs.org/enabler - it takes 30 seconds to sign up and will make campaigning easier and more effective. What more could you ask for?! I've been using it for the last few weeks in testing phase & I think it's great!!

Janine

Oxfam Bath

Oxfam Live - Come and find out more about Oxfam & how you can be involved

Janine — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:44:39 +0000

Start: 27/03/2010 - 14:00

End: 27/03/2010 - 17:00

Don't miss out on Oxfam Live 2010: book your place today

Oxfam Live will be landing at Bristol’s Circomedia on Saturday 27^th of March.

Join us at 2pm for an afternoon of inspirational talks and exclusive insights into the way the organisation works. It will be a great chance to get ‘up close and personal’ with Oxfam supporters, directors, trustees and experts from the field and lets you pose those questions you’ve always wanted to ask. You’ll also get to meet other local, like-minded supporters and share your ideas.

Places are limited so don’t miss your chance to get closer to Oxfam. To register, click here or email oxfamlive@oxfam.o rg.uk

Oxfam Bath

Urgent Action - Write to the Chronicle about the Robin Hood Tax!

Janine — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:47:05 +0000

Hi All,

You might have seen the great momentum the Robin Hood Tax campaign has gained - all the papers are featuring articles on it; there are over 60,000 Facebook followers and it is a top trend on Twitter for all you up-to-the-minute social network followers! We really need to carry on building pressure on the politicians and show them how many people care about this, as well as highlighting it to the public. And you can help!!

If we can get as many people as possible to write Letters to the Editor of the Bath Chronicle, we might have a chance of appearing in the next edition! The trouble is, you need to email your letter tomorrow to be in this week or by next Tuesday for the following week. I have attached a template letter from Oxfam, so all you need to do is chance a few words and sign it if you would like to join this action. It would be great if you could send it out, and email oxfambath@yahoo.co.uk so we can count how many are sent....and then keep your eyes peeled in the paper!!

I'll try and post an update if we do get covered......

Janine

Oxfam Bath