Buy Bjork's swan dress Yes you better believe it... Bjork's famous swan dress is on Ebay and all proceeds will go to Oxfam. SHOWstudio and i-D magazine have been working together to create a unique fashion project in aid of Oxfam. Celebs and some lucky public have donated fave clothes to the project. These items were customised by a team of super stylists. The clothes were then modelled by the likes of Naomi Campbell in a rather fabulous fashion show. Now all these garments are going under the hammer as part of a grand fashion auction on Oxfam's charity section of Ebay. This coincides with London Fashion week. The auction allows bidders to compete for their fave pieces, and they will also receive info on the story behind the item they have won. From 22nd August to 9th September you can see a preview of some of the auction clothes in the window of the Chelsea Oxfam Shop. Well worth a sneaky peak. Check out the Bring and Buy website to find out more. posted at 10:30 AM | Permalink 2 comments

Congratulations to our Rakhi winners! A big CONGRATS to our two Rakhi competition winners - Shauna Singh and Sita Loi. You each win a Rakhi wristband, signed by the star Jay Sean. Nice one! Now it's time to think about White Band Day II on Saturday 10 September. Remember to wear your white band with pride! posted at 4:05 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Leeds and Reading here we come! Our hit-squad of FANTASTIC campaigners have hit Leeds and Reading for the Carling Weekender, and are readying themselves to get support for the Big Noise Petition. In case you didn't know, over 15,000 people signed up for the Big Noise last weekend at V, which pushes us further towards the golden 10 million mark. Let's hope we can get even more signatures this weekend, and put pressure on governments and international organisations to Make Trade Fair. We'll have a funky late-night dance tent at Leeds - keep up-to-date with all our Leeds-based shenanigans on our festivals blog - and stay tuned too for updates from our shop-people at Reading. They'll be selling wellies, blankets and all sorts of stuff to keep you warm and funky, bless 'em. Our good friends at Action Aid will have a dance tent at Reading too... So, if you're going to either festival, keep an eye out for campaigners, our stewards, our shop and our dance tent... It's all going on! posted at 11:29 AM | Permalink 2 comments

Phew! What a weekend! Wow, it's been a busy time at GWhy HQ. Some of us have just this minute got back from an incredible weekend at V Festival, and others have had to head straight off with the campervan to Leeds for the Carling Weekend up there. We've been collecting support for Make Trade Fair and it's been going brilliantly - 1,000s and 1,000s of sign ups to the Big Noise Petition. Awesome respect goes out to those V dudes. Here's looking forward to another amazing weekend at Leeds. But the festival stuff isn't all we've been up to: some of you may have got one of our fantastic white bands for Rakhi Day. It really was a massive hit with everyone - we got coverage in local and national press, and got great support from celebs like Talvin Singh, Raghav and Veronica. We've got a great round-up of the whole shebang, including radio downloads, picture stories and your chance to win a Rakhi white band signed by Jay Sean (see pic)! What more could you want, eh? posted at 2:30 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Happy Rakhi Day! It's Rakhi Day today! Rakhi (or Raksha Bandhan) is a Hindu festival (though many non-Hindus take part too) that celebrates the special bond between sister and brother. Traditionally, women and girls tie colourful bracelets around their brothers' wrists. This year we made a limited edition version of the Make Povery History white band for Rakhi - and now they've all sold out! Thanks so much to everyone who supported this and bought a band - if you weren't able to get one, we have two exclusive bands, SIGNED by JAY SEAN (see pic), to giveaway. Just e-mail us with 'Rakhi' in the subject header, and we'll put your name in the hat. Closing date: Friday 26 August. More about Rakhi Day on Generation Why >> posted at 10:03 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Have your say about Rakhi Day You may have heard about (or even bought) the special Make Poverty History white band that we've made for this year's Rakhi Day. It's a brand new scheme, and we're really chuffed that celebrities like Raghav and Talvin Singh and Veronica have bought the bands and been really supportive what we're doing. What we'd love to know is what you think of the whole thing. Have you bought one of the bands? Has it made you think more about getting involved with Oxfam? Have your say and post your comments on this blog! posted at 1:56 PM | Permalink 8 comments

We're one of the top 100 graduate employers Just picked this up on The Times website - Oxfam is one of only two charities in its list of the top 100 graduate employers, which is nice. It says that Oxfam's work "to alleviate poverty and its high-profile disaster relief and humanitarian aid in countries worldwide has made it an aspirational choice for many university-leavers". Alas, there aren't actually any full-time graduate positions at Oxfam, but there is an innovative voluntary internship scheme - there's more info about this on the main Oxfam website. posted at 11:39 AM | Permalink 0 comments

We're all going to V in our little green van Hey there, it's all a bit hectic at GWHY HQ as we pack up our van to head up to Stafford for V Festival. This year we're going to be raising awareness about Make Trade Fair and collecting sign ups to the Big Noise petition. We're also gonna have an AWESOME fair trade café and chill-out tent, complete with our lean, green campaigning machine - the Oxfam campervan. And everyone's talking about us - efestivals.co.uk have put a plug in, and the rather splendid virtualfestivals.com too. Follow all our V shenanigans on the magnificent Generation Why festivals blog - e-mail us your own V stories and pics, and we'll put them up on the site. To get everybody in the mood for V we've got a great CD giveaway - glorious Icelandic band Leaves are playing V this year, and we've got copies of their new album to giveaway. Click here to find out how you can win one. More about what we're getting up to at V Festival >> posted at 3:12 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Music4Life goes global... Our groundbreakiong club night - Music4Life - has spread its wings and flown to Canada. Music4Change aims to raise awareness about Oxfam Canada and the Canadian version of the Make Poverty History campaign. As the Music4Change blog puts it: "A purposeful evening where club hoppers, advocates and neophytes alike can celebrate to alleviate, this unique event is designed to blend hedonism with humanitarianism against the backdrop of world music." The first event is Saturday 27 August, so if any of you happen to be in Ottwawa, get down there! posted at 2:15 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Talvin Singh, Veronica and Shobna Gulati support our Rakhi campaign Loads of celebrities have given their support to our Make Poverty History Rakhi campaign - all of them donning the special white bands we've made for this year's Rakhi festival. Music legend Talvin Singh (pictured, with Veronica) said: "At a time when we are celebrating the unity between our sisters and brothers on Rakhi Day, wearing one of Oxfam's special wrist bands will show that you are also remembering your sisters and brothers around the world. I'll be wearing mine with pride on the 19th of August." Singer Veronica added: "I'm definitely going to be tying one of these bands around my brother's wrist on Rakhi day. They're a great way for young Asians to support a great campaign in what's been a fantastic year for Make Poverty History." Corrie star Shobna Gulati has also got one of the bands: "When we celebrate with our brothers and sisters on Rakhi day, it's also important to remember all our brothers and sisters around the world, many of whom live in poverty." Music maestro Nitin Sawhney donned his band, and said "Wearing one of Oxfam's Rakhi bands gives us all a great chance to back the Make Poverty History campaign at the same time as celebrating a special day." Get your Make Poverty History Rakhi online now >> posted at 12:38 PM | Permalink 3 comments

Make Poverty History at Club Hedonistic this Friday Just a quick blog to get you all to come to London's Islington Academy this Friday, for Club Hedonistic, an indie-type club night to raise awareness about Make Poverty History. The bands are all really exciting live acts, including The Slides, Lucky Soul (pictured) and The Irrepressibles. What's more, it's FREE to get in! See you there... posted at 8:58 AM | Permalink 1 comments

What do you think of Make Poverty History? Make Poverty History (and the G8 summit) has been the big thing this year - but what do you think of it? Has it been a success? What have you done to Make Poverty History? The National Youth Agency is seeking young people's opinions on Make Poverty History and the G8. Have your say below, and we'll send the best comments off to be published on a special poster which will be distributed to youth work services across England. Just write a few lines below, with your first name and your age. posted at 4:32 PM | Permalink 3 comments

Find out more about what Oxfam does If you're new to Oxfam, or don't know about all the work we do around the world, a great place to start is our Issues section. It has info on what Oxfam is trying to achieve in all kinds of different areas - including conflict and disaster, education, health and trade - and has stories from our programme work in the field. You should also have a look at the What we do section on the big daddy Oxfam website, which has loads more detail, including what we're doing in emergency situations across the globe right now. posted at 9:38 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Quick'n'easy ways to support us... A quick blog to say a big GOOD MORNING and to tell you some of the really EASY ways you can help to support what we're doing. There are loads of little things you can do to make a difference - we've listed them here. You could e-mail e-mail George Bush and demand he implements the recent legally binding WTO ruling, which will help West African farmers and their families work their way out of poverty. You could also e-mail Tony Blair, to get him to take international leadership that will help put an end to poverty. If you haven't done so already, you should join the Big Noise Petition, which calls on world leaders and organisations to Make Trade Fair. There are just loads and loads of tiny things you could do to make a big difference - check them all out here. posted at 9:07 AM | Permalink 0 comments

The best of the websites If you're hooked on Generation Why then you might like to check out some of our fave sites. Here are just a few of the best... Taking it Global - this is led by young people, for young people. I'll say no more, take a peek. People and Planet - the largest student network in Britain. Its site is crammed with info about climate change, ethical careers, trade justice and AIDS. Action Aid Space - a creative site with fantastic graphics. Action Aid's campaigns and events are well worth a look. Pressure Works - Christian Aid's youth website gives direct and fast moving ideas for campaign action. Exciting articles as well. Citizenship Foundation - the Resources on this site are great and there are some competitions that might be just up your street. Hope you enjoy, but make sure you always come back to Generation Why! Let us know what you think about these websites. Also, we are making a links page for sites relevant to you. If there are any websites you reckon we need to include drop us a note about them. posted at 11:58 AM | Permalink 1 comments

Raghav wears his special white band Well, international superstar Raghav has got his special Make Poverty History white band - have you got yours? He took time out from his headlining performance at the Manchester Mela last Sunday to wear the super-cool white band that we've made for this year's Rakhi (or Raksha Bandhan) festival. As Raghav says: "On Rakhi day, when we celebrate with our brothers and sisters, we should remember all our brothers and sisters around the world, many of whom live in poverty. Wearing Oxfam's special Rakhi band shows solidarity for the Make Poverty History campaign, and I believe that it's important for people from every community to come together to fight poverty." You can get one of these bands for just £1 from an Oxfam shop, or online for £2. Get your special Make Poverty History white band >> posted at 2:33 PM | Permalink 1 comments

Keep up-to-date with the latest news and events Another quickie, just wanted to put a plug in for our rather splendid monthly newsletter, e-Xtra. It brings together all the latest events, competitions and stuff on the site, and gives you loads of ways to get more involved with what we do at festivals, music nights and the like. Have a look at the latest issue and sign up here (all we need is your e-mail address and few other details). posted at 10:07 AM | Permalink 0 comments

There's a new blog every second That's right - according to new research a new blog is born every second. This means a staggering 80,000 new blogs are created every single day. No one knows exactly how many blogs there are in the UK but it is guessed that there are between 200,000 and 900,000. So it's not just us who have gone blog-crazy. What do you think about blogging - is it as new and exciting as people are saying? Which are the best blogs around? Enter your comments below. posted at 2:07 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Appeal for aid in West Africa A Disasters Emergency Committee appeal is starting to raise millions of pounds for those facing starvation in West Africa. According to the Red Cross, eight million are at risk in Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. The appeal funds will go to relief programmes, buying food, animal fodder, seeds and medicines. Donations to the DEC Niger Crisis Appeal can be made at www.dec.org.uk, or by phoning the Disasters Emergency Committee on 0870 60 60 900. There's an interesting article about the situation on the BBC website and some great material on the Oxfam main site. posted at 10:28 AM | Permalink 0 comments

...we've moved! Sorry for being quiet over the last week - don't worry we're back with a vengeance now. It's day one in our new building and for the first time Oxfam's 700 staff are all under one roof. Pretty exciting and, as you can see, still a little hectic... But things didn't just stop with the office move, in fact quite the opposite. Last weekend we were soaking up the sun (and rain) and Making Poverty History at Lovebox in London. 2,200 signs up - nice one! The photo story, complete with celebs galore, is well worth a squizz. Next up was Womad, a festival celebrating music, art and dance from all over the world. Oxfam campaigners were out in force to get support for the Control Arms Campaign, taking photos of the festival crowd for the Million Faces petition. 1,000+ in one day - good work! For more details see the festival blog... posted at 10:29 AM | Permalink 2 comments

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