Oxfam`s local newsletter • oct/NOV 2013

IN THIS ISSUE:
>Love for Syria
the Brands’
>Launch of ‘Behind d Projects’
re
>New ‘People Powe y girl born
ab
>Limar’s Story - A b in Jordan
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into a refugee cam ar you?...
ne
>What’s the SCOOP
south east
Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam Intermon
Oxfam’s local newsletter • oct/NOV 2013
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from the editor
Welcome to SCOOP!
In September, we held our first national
supporter summit. It was a resounding
success! Thank you to everyone who came.
We have so much going on this autumn…
The Syrian crisis continues to escalate,
with your help, Oxfam is raising awareness
and funds for the people of Syria. We
have the launch of our ‘People Powered
Projects.’ Join the movement today!
October has seen the launch of the ‘Behind
the Brands’ Campaign, encouraging
top UK brands to improve their ethical
practices, in a ‘race to the top’! In addition,
Campaigners across the UK are raising
their voices about the ‘Lobbying Bill’ and
legislation concerning Biofuels.
Thank so much for your support, as always.
You are the people making a difference. We
hope that you enjoy this autumn issue; it is
all about your wonderful work.
features
04 SYRIA FUNDRAISING 05 COMMUNITY FUNDRAISING
07 BEHIND THE BRANDS
08 SYRIA CAMPAIGNING
10 LOCAL NEWS
15 DIARY
16 CONTACT
Hannah Davies
Scoop editor
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OMore than 1.9 million refugees have now
fled violence in Syria and are in desperate
need of shelter, food and water. Over half
of them are children.
Please Take Action.
2
Donate the appeal:
www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/content/syria-appeal
Interested in fundraising for the appeal –
Get in touch
Oxfam’s Farah Al-basha updates
us on the situation in Za’atari
refugee camp, Jordan.
Click
to play
video
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Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam Intermon
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Liqaa and her daughter
Limar, born 3rd August, in
Zaatari Camp in Jordan
Happy Birthday Limar
More than 1.9 million people have
fled Syria. These figures illustrate
the scale of the crisis, but behind
every number is a very personal
story, for someone like Limar and
first time parents Liqaa and Bassel.
On 3rd August, Liqaa gave birth to her first
child, inside Zaatari camp in Jordon. Limar’s
mother, Liqaa, described her feeling about
this special time:”It was such a beautiful
day for me and for my husband to see this
sweet baby. I was so happy. After giving
birth I was tired but after seeing her I forgot
about my tiredness.” “I missed my family so
much on that day. I was crying, and until
now I miss them so much and think of going
back but it’s not safe to go back. I wanted
to go to give birth in Syria and be next to
my family but it was too dangerous.” It is so
difficult to raise a baby here in Zaatari Camp.
“The climate is too hot for her during the
day, and in the night it’s so cold. Hospitals
here are not that good to get medicines and
medical services. Adults can get by with
the services we have here but for children
it’s much harder.” “What I wish from the
international community is to help the
Syrian people to find a political solution, to
help us to go back to our country, to our life,
to our future.” “I said earlier that we need
peace in Syria for our children. Now that I’ve
given birth to Limar it’s even more important
for me and for her to have our country back,
for her to grow up there with our family. I
look forward to going back to Syria as
soon as possible.” Amidst the chaos and
uncertainty; life goes on for the people
of Syria. Limar has been born into a loving
family, but what will Limar’s world look like
in the future?
After fleeing from Syria; the issue is not
just survival and safety. It is about quality
of life and what the future holds not just
for Limar but for everyone.
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SYRIA Fundraising
Winter is fast
approaching for the
people of Syria
Winter is fast closing in for
the people of Syria. The crisis
in Syria has been going on
for nearly 3 years now and
is rapidly deepening.
6.8 million People are in need of aid within
Syria, 4.25 million people are now internally
displaced within Syria, and 1.9 Million People
have fled from Syria. There are real people
behind these numbers, which is why your
continued support is so crucial at this time
Oxfam Supporters have been fundraising
in their own amazing ways for the Syrian
people. You have been doing many brave
and wonderful things to spread this
important message across communities.
The Birmingham Fundraising
Group dared to abseil for Syria.
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This has included building art installations
on the sides of Cornish hills, abseiling
down buildings and even organising
Treasure Hunts; all to show love for the
people of Syria. In August Ilkley gave
Syria a helping hand, by playing host
to the fabulous ‘Love Syria’ letters to
raise awareness while a group of super
volunteers held a collection in the town
centre. As the crisis continues so too have
you kept up your vital fundraising. Thank
you for all of your incredible hard work.
Your money goes on building lives. Oxfam
WASH (water health and sanitation)
programme work has met with great
success. So far Oxfam has helped over
200,000 people, but we are aiming to help
over 650,000 people by March 2014. So far
we are 39% funded. Everything that you do
helps us to reach our target. £100 can help
provide a family with a roof over their head
for a month, you can make that happen.
If you would like to
do something for
Syria, contact your
Regional Fundraiser
for ideas and
support: http://www.
oxfam.org.uk/getinvolved/fundraising/
regional-fundraisingmanagers
The Race against
Winter is on….
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Community Fundraising
People Power!
Oxfam is excited to announce the
launch of our ‘People Powered
Projects.’ A new, innovative way
of fundraising. We need you to
join our movement and change
the world – but we have just 3
months to make it happen!
How does it work?
First, choose a project. You can choose from
three projects. ‘Beautiful Rice’ in Liberia: We
want to transform 700 lives in Liberia. If we
raise £100,000 for this project we unlock an
EU grant for match funding. This will mean
that every £1 that you raise it becomes
£5! Our second option is ‘Hot Stuff’, a Chilli
farming project in Bangladesh. This project
has just received a major boost - some
generous donors have promised to double
donations we receive to this appeal up to a
maximum of £10,000. You can also join the
Mooovement by buying a cow in Sri Lanka
for £80. Could you help us to Build a Herd?
Choose how you want to change the world.
Next, create your own Oxfam fundraising
page and then use your people-power to
share your page with everyone you know!
It is all about People Power. Let people
know which project you are passionate
about and share the fundraising message
with everyone, though email, facebook,
twitter or face to face. Next, watch as
the magic starts to happen… if everyone
gives a little something; you will see your
totaliser go up and up!
You fundraise your way. To encourage your
friends to give you their precious pennies
you could really push some fundraising
boundaries. Why not dress up as a cow
for a day, taking on a chilli challenge or
sit in a bath of rice for a day, when you
hit your target?!
Remember to share your ‘People-Powered’
journey on Oxfam GB’s Facebook and Twitter
feeds to inspire others to use their ‘Peoplepower’ and join our movement and help
change the world.
What will you choose?
Coming soon. Check out website for the
launch www.oxfam.org.uk
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behind the brands
Stop THE SUGAR RUSH
Big brands worry about what
people think of them. Their
reputation and brand are one of
the most important things that
they care about – but we need
them to care about how their
business affects people lives too.
Big food companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsico
and Associated British Foods (ABF) buy and
produce huge amounts of sugar around the
world. But as their demand for sugar increases,
so does the rush for land to grow it on.
Ordinary families are going hungry. In Brazil
and Cambodia, farmers have been kicked
off their land by sugar suppliers who sell
to Coke and Pepsi. Elsewhere, ABF – the
biggest sugar producer in Africa – is
reported as being linked to a range of
ongoing land disputes. Whole communities
around the world are losing their main
source of food and income.
Here is one farmer’s story: Mon Yorm has
been a farmer her whole life – until she
was thrown off her land to make way for a
sugar plantation in Cambodia: “There were
bulldozers clearing the land. We tried to
stop them, but there were police with
guns.” Although she estimates her land
was worth around $5,000 per hectare, Mon
Yorm was offered just $35 per hectare in
compensation. It’s left her with no way to
provide for her family. She can’t buy food,
send her grandchildren to school or pay
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her medical bills. Despite her desperate
situation, Mon Yorm is determined to fight
back. With your help, she can: “There are
children here who are very young. Land
is very important for their future. I will
continue to fight for my land until I die.”
Join our new campaign BEHIND THE
BRANDS – tell Coke, Pepsi and Associated
British Foods to make sure their sugar
does not lead to land grabs.
We want to push Coke, Pepsi and ABF to
join the fight against land grabs.
We need them to:
> KNOW how their sugar impacts on
community land rights.
> SHOW where their ingredients come from
– and who grows them.
> COMMIT to zero tolerance of land grabs.
You have the power to change the way big
brands do business. Sign the petition at
www.behindthebrands.org
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land grabs
Using our consumer
power to stop
land grabs
Behind the Brands is an exciting
new campaign targeting some
of the top UK brands; we are
asking them to improve their
policies for the benefit of
everyone in their supply chain.
To be more ethical. We would like the public
to use their consumer power to facilitate a
‘race to the top’ between rival companies.
The South East kicked off the campaign,
targeting Coke Cola, PepsiCo and
Associated British Food based in London
and Berkshire. These companies are among
the world’s largest sugar purchasers and
producers. Over coming months we will be
challenging these companies to improve
their poor performance surrounding
land grabs. On 2nd October we have
took our message to their headquarters.
Campaigners talked to employees about
ways to improve their sourcing; to ensure
that their policies and practices do not lead
to land grabbing in developing countries.
Campaigers will also be going along to
some Oxjam takeover events to give
revellers the chance to experience the
Oxfam photobooth – where they can
put on fancy dress items and have their
photo taken whilst holding up their direct
message to the brand about why they are
unhappy with their land practices.
We are looking for as many campaigners
as possible to get involved with Behind the
Brands. Please contact Diana Vogtel for
more information! [email protected]
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Summer Love for Syria
As a carpet of golden, autumn
leaves rolls out over the UK
streets and the sun, still
bright and warm, sets earlier
over the fields, hundreds of
thousands of Wellington boots
are casually being shoved back
into cupboards or thrown under
the stairs as another festival
season draws to a close. And it
has been a happy one for Oxfam!
This year, Oxfam launched its ‘Love Syria’
campaign at festivals across the UK.
Festival campaigners talked about how the
Syrian people have been affected by the
crisis and how Oxfam is responding. ‘Love
is a toilet’ was one way of representing our
water and sanitation work, to help prevent
the spread of disease in refugee camps.
We asked people to join the ‘Love Syria’
campaign by signing our petition that
Love Syria Campaigners at Camp Bestival
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called for aid access within Syria and a
peaceful, political solution to the conflict.
The UK public took the people of Syria to
their hearts. Nearly 50,000 people have
signed our petition from Scotland to the
Isle of Wight!
Festival goers showed their Love for Syria
in other ways too. There were heart shaped
notes for people to write messages of
support; we asked everyone to write what
love means to them and to the people of
Syria? People made heart shapes with their
hands and bodies and took photos – we
have turned this into a mosaic of a lone
Syrian boy. We will share this touching
mosaic and the petition with William Hague
before he goes to the United Nations
General Assembly.
Since launching the ‘Love Syria’ campaign,
the UK has now contributed £400m in aid
to Syria - more than fulfilling their ‘fair
share’ of the UN appeal for funds. The UK
voted against military intervention. We
have also been granted access inside
Syria to distribute aid. The ‘Love Syria’
campaign has shown solidarity with the
people of Syria. Thank you to everyone who
campaigned for Oxfam and the people of
Syria - your voice has been heard!
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Standing with Syrians
Since the last Scoop, the situation
in Syria has escalated significantly
meaning it has been more crucial
than ever for Oxfam campaigners
to raise awareness of the
humanitarian crisis and push for a
peaceful, non-military solution.
In Brighton campaigners celebrated Eid
with Syrian food and music. In just a few
hours, they managed to collect over 100
signatures for the petition and £70 in
donations! In addition to this all the local
Oxfam shops in Brighton joined together
for the campaign and put up Love Syria
window displays. There was also a photo
call at the iconic Brighton Pavilion with our
giant Love Syria letters which made it into
the local press.
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In Shoreditch, local festival goers were
asked to pose for a Love Syria photo,
making a heart shape with their hands to
show their solidarity and concern for the
thousands of refugees that have fled Syria
and those that are displaced within their
own country.
In other areas, the St Albans, Worthing,
Welyn Garden City and Central London
Oxfam groups all ran stalls and collected
signatures and between them raised over
£1,000 of much needed funds for the crisis.
We plan to continue campaigning on Syria
for the foreseeable future so if you would
like to run a stall or an event to raise money
or awareness for the people of Syria, do let
us know and we can provide you with the
necessary materials and support.
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local news
Treasure in
Greenwich!
On 31st August, it was time
for the 2nd Annual Great
Greenwich Treasure Hunt!
On that Sunny afternoon, many intrepid
teams set out to find and answer the
series of questions hidden around
Greenwich town centre & its famous park.
After a thrilling treasure hunt, everyone
celebrated with some drinks and delicious
food at the local ‘Pistachios Café’.
The top three teams won great prizes,
such as a football signed by Charlton FC
and tickets to Greenwich Comedy Festival.
It was an exciting, fun and rewarding
day, thank you to everyone involved. The
treasure hunt raised a total of £492 for
Oxfam’s Syria Crisis Appeal. The Greenwich
group are looking forward to more Treasure
Hunts in the future!
Oxfordshire Bake Off
Inspired by Mary Berry and
‘The Great British Bake off’,
Oxford hosted the second
Oxfordshire Bake off on
Saturday 5th October at Oxford
High school, Summertown.
Organiser Kate Kellaway-Moore set up the
Oxfordshire bake off to encourage people
who have a love of home baking to share
their kitchen creations and of course help
raise much needed funds for Oxfam.
Entrants baked in advance and brought
some splendid cakes on the day. Thank you
to everyone, who baked, ate cake or bought
raffle tickets. It was a wonderful event.
To find out more about the Oxfordshire bake
off, you can visit their website:
http://oxfordbakeoff.wordpress.com/
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news snippets
• The St Albans Group held a stall in August
for Love Syria and raised over 500 pounds
for the refugees and added 100 signatures
to the petition.
• The Central London Oxfam Group (CLOX)
held two fundraisers for Love Syria in London
and added 56 signatures to our petition
along with over 120 pounds in donations
Cherokee
challenge 2013
In October, Andy Hardy and Sam
Kidd will be flying their 1966 Piper
Cherokee “Yankee Sierra” over
10,500 nautical miles from the
UK to Andy’s native Australia
This will be a great challenge for the
two friends, and one which has been
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• The Worthing group added 200 signatures to
the Love Syria petition at their stall last month
• The Welyn Garden group are running
a charity car park this month with all
proceeds going to the crisis in Syria.
• All our student groups are now back in full
force so we are looking forward to seeing
lots of great events in the coming months
and we also hope to sign up some fresh
faces at our upcoming career fairs!
attempted by relatively few people in a
single-engine piston-powered aircraft.
Since arriving in the UK 24yrs ago, it has
always been Andy’s ambition to fly home
the slow way, by light aircraft. Now, with
Sam as his Co-pilot, they’re ready to do it!
You can follow the brave twosomes
adventure as they raise money for Oxfam
by visiting http://www.everydayhero.
co.uk/event/cherokeechallenge2013
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Feeding cars not
people?
Constituency Campaigners
in London and the South
East were shocked to learn
of European legislation which
could potentially divert massive
amounts of land from food
production to fuel production.
The expansion of EU biofuel use has helped
create a massive global market for them.
The rising demand for crops for fuel has
put them in direct competition with food
crops over land and water. With food being
burned in our cars instead of used to feed
hungry people, the price of food is being
pushed up. Oxfam reports reveal that the
land required to power European cars with
biofuels for just one year could produce
enough wheat and maize to feed at least
127 million people increasing hunger and
poverty. Huge swathes of land in poorer
countries are being turned over to biofuel
production leading to land grabs all of which
has a negative impact on land and resource
rights, livelihoods and food security. In
addition to this some biofuels actually
accelerate climate change, by what is
known as Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC).
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This is where biofuel crops displace other
agricultural production.
With this in mind Constituency Campaigners
lobbied and wrote to their MEPs to ask them
to support Oxfam’s proposal of introducing
a 5% limit for counting food crop-based
biofuels towards the 10% target.
Would you like to become a Constituency
Campaigner? We are still taking
applications! For more details:
www.oxfam.org.uk/ccp
Local Campaign News
• Thank you to students at Oxford
university who raised £2,000 for our Syria
Emergency appeal
• A big shout out to staff at Unilever
Slough who gave a cheque for £3,500 to
help Oxfam’s work in the UK
• Good Luck to Dell employees Andy
Hardy and Sam Kidd who will be flying in a
light aeroplane all the way from the UK to
Australia to raise money for Oxfam
• Best wishes to Barbara Walmsley who
will be undertaking her annual ‘Oxfam Fast’
to raise money for the cause. This will be
Barbara’s 28th year and we would like to
thank her for her many years of dedication
to Oxfam.
• A huge thank you to our partner AIMIA
who got their staff together and held
‘Dance for Bangladesh’. The event raised
an amazing £10,000 for Oxfam’s project in
Bangladesh with donations flying in via a
raffle, auction and dance-off.
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London Festival
Campaigning
The London and South East team
have had a very busy summer.
We have been campaigning at
some great local festivals!
In July, we campaigned at the Shoreditch
Festival, for ‘Love Syria’ we informed
residents of the worsening humanitarian
crisis. The lovely people of East London
were extremely supportive of our
campaign; we managed to add 150
signatures to the petition and got some
lovely photos for our online campaign.
Next was the Kingston Food Festival in
Kingston Upon Thames. This was a fun
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event for all the family, focusing on local
produce. We spoke to residents about
GROW and the upcoming ‘Behind the
Brands’ campaign. Whilst chatting to the
parents, we kept the kids entertained by
getting them to paint their favourite food
onto a paper plate. These works of art were
then used to decorate our gorgeous ‘chill
out’ tent.
Our final event was the Carshalton Eco
fair in Surrey. In keeping with the theme
we spoke to people about the production
of biofuels and where we stand on crops
being used for fuel and not food.
A very successful summer full of lovely
people, great conversations and lots of
support for Oxfam’s work, a big thanks to
everyone in London and the South East!
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Constituency
Campaigner
Recruitment
Recruitment has been extended
for Oxfam’s Constituency
Campaigner programme!
If you’re interested in learning new
campaigning and lobbying skills and are
prepared to work to build a relationship with
your local MP in support of Oxfam’s issues
then do please apply.
This is a vital voluntary role that gives
you the opportunity to influence decision
makers and help Oxfam promote its
campaigns to end poverty and suffering.
We’ll provide you with the training and
ongoing support that you need. Application
forms and a role description can be
downloaded from www.oxfam.org.uk/ccp
Oxjam is here!
It’s that time of year again. This October,
Oxjam events will be happening all over the
country, and my oh my, there is an amazing
array of musical offerings to choose from!
Every October, Oxfam asks people across
the UK to put on a music event to raise
money for those living in poverty across
the world; since 2006 Oxjam has raised a
staggering £2 million. This year, we have a
record number of gigs taking place across
the region, so why not get out into your
local community and help to raise money
for Oxfam, whilst listening to some amazing
local music!
To find out about gigs near you, go to
www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam
P.S. DID YOU KNOW?
Oxfam works in the UK with some of the most disadvantaged
people through community projects like Food Banks and Family
Centres. And with just a few clicks YOU can help us win
£10,000 for our UK work with the Vote That Counts!
As long as we get into the top 5 charities we get the money,
so every vote counts! Vote now - click on the logo!
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diary
local EVENTS
October-November
The UK Gold – Free cinema screenings of
this tax moving across the UK. Find your
local screening here:
www.Theukgold.co.uk/screenings
october
Oxjam
Check out gigs near you at http://www.
oxfam.org.uk/oxjam/events-map
2nd October
Behind the Brands Launch
Go to www.behindthebrands.org
and tell
Coke, Pepsico and ABF to COMMIT to zero
tolerance of land grabs.
Fri 11th October
All about Oxfam Event @ 2.30pm @ Quaker
Meeting House, Saffron Walden. Come
along for a fun afternoon to find out about
Oxfam, the work we do and how you can
get involved (For more info and a free ticket
please contact Emma on
[email protected]
Wed 23rd October
Come meet John Pilkington, explorer,
lecturer, photographer, author and
broadcaster. Holy trinity parish, cookham,
10.30am. Call 01628 628 829 for tickets
16 october
World
Food Day
Sat 26th October
Faversham Oxjam Music Evening. Assembly
Rooms, Preston Street, Faversham. For
more info and tickets contact Susanna at
[email protected]
Sat 26th & Sun 27th October
Bury St Edmunds Oxjam Folk Weekend
For more info and tickets please visit
www.oxjamfolkburysteds.co.uk
2nd November
Oxfam Emergency Challenge
Click here to find out more:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/challenge
Tues 12th Nov
Bridge Tea – Chiltern Villages Oxfam Group
(e-mail [email protected]
for
more info)
October-November
Cherokee Challenge Flight
Andy Hardy & Sam Kidd. Flying the slow way
from UK to Australia. For more information
please visit
http://www.everydayhero.co.uk/event/
cherokeechallenge2013
October-November
2nd Ealing fundraising group Second-hand
Jewellery Sale
A one-off event to sell donations of
Jewellery, Scarves and other accessories.
Venue and date to be confirmed. Please
contact Ben Ansell
for more info.
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your local contacts
Diane Vogtel, Community Campaigns
Coordinator, London & South East
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 020 7802 9972
Ben Ansell, Community Fundraiser –
South East
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 07825 218299
Ali Jinnah, Community Fundraiser –
South East
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 07725 544408
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Emma Crossley, Community
Fundraiser, South East:
Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 07795335391
Alle Dasgupta, Activism intern
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 020 7802 9979