Tsunami five months on... Just been browsing through the big Oxfam site, and saw this interesting news release about the tsunami. I couldn't quite believe the tsunami hit five months ago - it seems that so much has happened since then, and the world moves on very quickly. Anyway, to get an update on the great work that Oxfam has been involved with in the tsunami-hit countries, have a look here. According to the news release, the tsunami was Oxfam's biggest ever aid effort, and in the first three months following the disaster, Oxfam helped over 1 million people. More about the tsunami on Oxfam.org.uk >> posted at 2:42 PM | Permalink 0 comments

WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! To celebrate this lovely May bank holiday (well, "lovely" until the weather turns tomorrow), we've gone prize-crazy here at Generation Why. First up, you can't fail to have noticed we've got some FREE GLASTONBURY TICKETS. How cool is that? We can't quite believe it ourselves. All you have to do is take a photo of you wearing a white band, and we'll pick out the funniest pic to win the tickets. How EASY do we have to make it, eh? AND five runners up get one of our beautiful t-shirts. Woo hoo! But that's not all - we've also got copies of the new album from New York sensations The Bravery to give away too. All you have to do is tell us the bravest (or most cowardly) thing you've ever done. So get to it. Blimey. With offers like these, you can all be WINNERS. Just like dear ol Jamie Carragher. posted at 3:55 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Are you in Manchester this weekend? Nadia is... If you're in Manchester this weekend, head down to the Gay Village on Saturday night. The Manchester White Band Weekend sees the Manchester LGB community make a commitment to the Make Poverty History campaign, and Nadia Big Brother will be there. At 6.00 pm on Saturday night, Manchester's Gay Village will become a sea of white as members of the public, bars and businesses join together to show unity in one human chain across Canal Street. The event aims to get people to sign up to the Make Poverty History camapign and attend the rally before the G8 summit in Edinburgh on 2 July. For more info e-mail Oxfam's Manchester office manchester@oxfam.org.uk or telephone 0161 838 5619. More details on the Make Poverty History website >> posted at 11:15 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Kaiser Chiefs competition winners! Hey there, thanks to all the people who entered our Kaiser Chiefs limerick competition - we thought such divine poetic inspiration may have been beyond you, but how wrong we were. We've been through all the best entries and selected our favourites (remember our decision is final!) - so congratulations to Kimberley Bryon, Henry Lowrey, Diana Franklin, Mel Ratcliffe and Kate Ward! We'll be in touch to get hold of your postal details. For everyone else, have a look on this page for their wonderful poetry. posted at 9:58 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Interested in an ethical career? Hey there - just a quickie. Guess it's getting to the time of year when you need to start thinking about jobs, careers and all that overrated real-world nonsense. You might also be thinking that you'd like a job that makes a real difference to the world, too. Anyway, we've put together a quick page of different types of 'ethical' career and where to go for more info. It's a good place to start if you're thinking that you want a job that isn't just the average 9 to 5. 8 of the best ethical careers >> posted at 5:09 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Be the star in the Make Poverty History 'click' ad Just spotted this - T4 have joined together with the Make Poverty History campaign for a really cool competition. They're offering the chance for 25 viewers to appear in a 'grass-roots' version of the Make Poverty History 'Click' ad (the one where celebs like Kate Moss, Bob Geldof and Brad Pitt click their fingers every 3 seconds to signify the death from extreme poverty of a child in the developing world). As they say, this is a wicked opportunity for you to take part in a national campaign that has one goal in mind - to make a real difference to the lives of millions of people around the world living in extreme poverty. Enter the competition on the T4 website >> Find out more about Make Poverty History >> posted at 3:50 PM | Permalink 1 comments

Win the Kaiser Chiefs CD! Hey hey hey! It's Monday! Woo hoo! Hooray! Zippety doo dah! Aren't Mondays GREAT? Hmmmmmm. OK. So, that's a definite "NO", then. We all know that Mondays are officially RUBBISH. So that's why I thought I'd cheer you up this morning - 'cos you can still win a copy of the FABULOUS album 'Employment', from those musical dudes, The Kaiser Chiefs. Woo hoo! Hooray! Zippety etc etc. All you have to do is use your Monday morning blues as inspiration for a limerick about charity wristbands. You know the kind of thing: 'There once was a boy with a wristband, whose head was stuck in the sand, he wanted a white one, but got stuck with a blue one, that cost a whopping five grand.' Hmmmmm, not great eh? Reckon you can do better? Well get to it! Entries need to be in by this Friday, 27 May. We'll pick the five best limericks to win copies of the CD. Enter your limerick here >> Limericks submitted so far >> posted at 9:59 AM | Permalink 2 comments

Support the Control Arms campaign The arms trade is out of control: every minute, one person in the world is killed by armed violence. If you haven't already done so, have a look at the info we've got on this site about the Control Arms campaign. It calls for a global Arms Trade Treaty to bring the global trade in weapons under control, and for local action to protect civilians from armed violence. If you want to support the campaign, you could join the Million Faces Petition. This isn't your ordinary petition - the idea is to collect 1,000,000 photos of people all around the world (by 2006) to demonstrate to governments that we need effective and urgent action to control the arms trade crisis. Read about Control Arms here >> Visit the Control Arms website >> Read about DJ Each's tour of Brazil in support of Control Arms >> posted at 1:30 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Chris Martin goes to Ghana... Just been looking at the rather magnificent Make Trade Fair website and saw that they've put a cool story up about Chris Martin's recent trip to Ghana. Chris travelled there to find out how unfair trade has flooded the country with cheap imports, at the expense of the 60 per cent of the people there who rely on farming for a living. As Chris says after a visit to the Kuapa Kokoo collective, which grows cocoa beans for divine chocolate: "Fair Trade chocolate tastes better, but also it was amazing to go to a rich, green area like this and know that for every bar of Divine chocolate you're eating, you're helping out the people who grew it for you far more than if you eat Nestlé." More about Chris Martin's trip to Ghana on maketradefair.com >> More about the Kuapa Kokoo collective on Generation Why >> posted at 2:50 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Summer's here! Buy one of our vests! Hey hey hey! Don't know if you've noticed (probably not, given the February-like weather the past few days), but summer's fast approaching and it's time to get your summer clobber sorted. And, as if by magic, we have some brand new vests for sale through Generation Why. They're based on some of the same designs as our best-selling t-shirts, and they look just fabbo. What's more, they are produced in line with the Oxfam ethical sourcing policy, and 100 per cent of the profit made goes to support our work fighting poverty. So, what are you waiting for? Have a look at the new vests now >> posted at 2:31 PM | Permalink 0 comments

New look for the Make Poverty History website Hello there! Sorry it's been a while - we've had some busy times in GWhy Towers, not that that's any kind of excuse. Any road, just wanted to tell you that the Make Poverty History website has had a bit of a makeover, and jolly nice it is too. Everything you need to know about the Make Poverty History campaign is there - including all the different ways you can get involved, and how to get to the G8 in Edinburgh. So, when you get a moment, why not have a shufty? Go to the Make Poverty History website >> posted at 1:26 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Head-spinning, body-popping, back-twirling... We've just got back from one of our breakdance events and thought you might want to see some pics of our b-boys in action. We were at Leeds yesterday and it was a great day - the sun was out, the dancers were flipping all over the place and the crowd loved it. The idea behind these events is to raise the profile of Oxfam and Generation Why on campus, and get people involved with campaigns like Make Poverty History and Make Trade Fair. So, if you like the look of these dudes, why not put on your own event? Generation Why goes breakdancing >> Motivate for the G8 - Make Poverty History Leeds conference Thursday 12 May >> posted at 3:35 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Go shopping on World Fair Trade Day There's nothing we like more than an hour or eight of retail therapy and this Saturday - 14th May - is World Fair Trade Day. This year's theme is 'Fair Trade is Peace.' It calls on us all to build peace through development and equitable trade. Fair Trade events, rallies and fashion shows will be held in 60 countries world wide. In the UK it looks as though we're in for some decent weather (except northern and eastern Scotland but you're used to that by now eh?) so we've put together a few ideas for a shoptastically ethical Saturday >> Oh, and a quick reminder - to find out how much you know about trade issues have a go at our fair trade quiz >> posted at 8:39 AM | Permalink 1 comments

Make Poverty History: successes so far Judging by the feedback we've got, loads of you seem to be interested in how the Make Poverty History campaign is going. So we thought we'd compile a round-up of all the achievements made so far - including the number of white bands sold, which celebrities are now involved, and what new merchandise is available. The next big dates for your diaries are 1 July (White Band Day) followed by the G8 rally the next day in Edinburgh, which should be an awesome event, and a great chance to mingle with tons of like-minded people. Oh, and while we're at it, here's a lovely pic of a Make Poverty History spaniel. Aw, ain't he just the cutest, eh? Read the Make Poverty History update >> Tell me more about the G8 rally in Scotland >> posted at 3:59 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Interested in an ethical career? About a month ago, we asked you to fill out an online survey to give us your opinions about the Generation Why site. One of the features many people said they wanted to see more of was info on ethical careers. So, we've put together a new page detailing eight of the best ethical jobs out there, with loads of useful links to let you find out more about them. If you've ever considered being a campaigner, fundraiser, civil servant, environmental consultant, banker, housing adviser or humanitarian/social worker, you might want to check it out. As ever, if you feel we've missed anything out, then send your comments to us at generationwhy@oxfam.org.uk. Tell me more about these ethical careers >> posted at 4:43 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Have you voted yet? Just a quickie - have you voted yet? I've just been down the polling station (it seemed far too early to be doing anything that required brain power, but there you go) - got mightily confused and I'm sure I ticked the wrong boxes or put it in the wrong ballot box, then some chap with a rosette asked me for my polling card number as I was leaving. Have no idea why. Anyway, if you are going to vote, I guess it's worth remembering that the decision you make doesn't just have an impact on you or even just the UK - it could change the lives of 30,000 children in the developing world who die every day from extreme poverty. More about voting here >> posted at 8:42 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Buy a camel! Buy a goat! Oxfam Unwrapped is here! After the phenomenal success of the Oxfam Unwrapped catalogue this Christmas, we've updated it with loads of new gifts. The idea behind the catalogue is that when you're stuck for what to buy someone, you can give much-needed products and services to the world's poorest people instead. Oxfam will then send a certificate to the person you bought the gift for, telling them about the difference their donation has made to people's livelihoods. Last time round it was all about the goat, which was easily the most popular gift. Goat fans will be pleased to hear the goat is still in - along with her new pals, the cow and camel. You can even buy your smelly little brother an essential hygiene kit... Check out Oxfam Unwrapped online >> posted at 9:58 AM | Permalink 7 comments

Generation Why goes breakdancing... If you're at certain universities over the next couple of weeks, you might notice some Generation Why stuff going on. We're trying to raise awareness about the site, and about campaigns like Make Poverty History and Make Trade Fair, through a series of breakdancing events, where some seriously cool breakdancers will throw impossible, gravity-defying moves wearing our t-shirts. Look out for us at these universities... Wednesday 4 May - Exeter Thursday 5 May - Durham Friday 6 May - Nottingham Trent Monday 9 May - Sheffield Tuesday 10 May - Leeds Wednesday 11 May - Birmingham Thursday 12 May - Warwick Monday 16 May - Sussex Tuesday 17 May - Manchester Thursday 19 May - Plymouth More info about the breakdancers here >> posted at 12:32 PM | Permalink 2 comments

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