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We've come a long way baby
I'm really grateful to Paul and Jana from Oxfam Deutschland - they travelled for over 6 hours from Berlin to come to the concert last night!
But get this. These are Paola, Jeanine and Paloma, who came all the way from Bolivia to see Coldplay (and to sign the Make Trade Fair petition). Well, OK, they're studying here for 6 months. Great to meet them though. I managed to catch them after the concert too - if their big smiles were anything to go by, they enjoyed the concert!
So that sets the standard - any more well-travelled Coldplay fans out there? Are you coming to a concert? Make sure you visit the Oxfam Make Trade Fair stall.
posted at 12:49 PM
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Name that campaign!
Here's the Oxfam Deutschland team just before the doors opened. They were all so enthusiastic, and as I walked round the venue it felt like we had 200 volunteers, not 20! Everywhere you looked there was a Make Trade Fair T-shirt. Paul (on the far left of the picture) is the Director of Oxfam Deutschland, and it was a real pleasure to meet him. The whole team in fact were so welcoming and friendly, and I had a great time - thank you Oxfam Deutschland! I'm really starting to feel part of the Oxfam International family - it's so humbling to meet so many people who are working tirelessly for Oxfam's aim, to work together to overcome poverty and suffering.
posted at 12:29 PM
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Velkommen hen til danmark
Hi everyone.
We've made the long journey to Denmark for tomorrow night's concert in Copenhagen. The sun's out and from my room the city looks great - I can't wait to go out and explore! But first, here's the news and pictures from another successful night, this time in Germany.
posted at 12:01 PM
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Coldplay announce 5th member...
I took this photo of the show poster, got it onto the computer and then realised that your incompetent blogger hadn't worked out that glass is reflective. Sorry!
posted at 8:41 PM
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Getting ready.
 We're at the Koenig-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen for tonight's concert. The crew are steadily getting everything ready for the show. Everyone has a particular job to do - lighting, sound, backline, video...the list goes on. But everyone pulls together and it all goes so smoothly. It's incredible to watch, and I'm left in awe that the cables all go where they're meant to, everything is in the right place, and no-one gets cross! What a team!
posted at 1:23 PM
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It's simple...
 This isn't rocket science. If enough people sign the petition, then the politicians take notice. If the politicians take notice, we can Make Trade Fair. If we Make Trade Fair, the lives of poor communities could be transformed in a way never seen before.
It takes less than a minute to join the petition. With your support, we can make this the biggest petition ever.
Make Trade Fair here.
P.S. The photo is a close-up of one of the Make Trade Fair T-shirts, which our volunteers wear (and which a certain Chris Martin has been known to wear). We're getting so many people asking where to buy them from. Click here to buy online.
posted at 12:02 PM
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Guten Morgen
Morning everyone.
I've just arrived at the venue here in Oberhausen in Germany. Most of the crew have been here since 6:30am (!) and the stage is really taking shape. I'll get some photos of the set-up soon.
We're working with Oxfam Germany today. Oxfam Germany are the youngest member of the Oxfamily, having been set up in 1995. They do canpaigning work, as well as managing the 20 Oxfam shops here in Germany. I'm really looking forward to meeting the team later.
Chris
posted at 11:31 AM
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News just in...
Great news from last night: 1,502 people signed the Make Trade Fair petition. So well done to the magnificent team last night in Antwerp!
Add that to the 8 and a half million sign-ups from around the world already and it makes for a pretty powerful expression to the world leaders at December's WTO Ministerial Summit in Hong Kong. It just shows that people have had enough of the unfair trade rules and double standards that lie behind world trade, and they want something done about it. It's a crucial few months ahead - make sure you're part of it and sign the petition here.
posted at 4:17 PM
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Working the crowd...!
And finally, a picture of the amazing Tom Remans, from Oxfam Fair Trade in Belgium, telling some girls about Make Trade Fair (they signed the petition straight after the photo was taken). Tom helped organise things in Antwerp and was a complete star. Special thanks also to Karin, and to the whole crew - you were brilliant! See you on November 30th!
posted at 2:12 PM
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What a pair...
...of campaigners! Great work.
posted at 2:05 PM
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The Sportspaleis in Antwerp
This is the inside of the venue in Antwerp before the concert started. The seats were all filled, and the standing area which you can see was absolutely packed! When 15,000 people sang along to a Coldplay classic it sent shivers down my spine. Amazing!
posted at 1:59 PM
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The morning after the night before...
We left Antwerp at about 5am this morning, still buzzing from the first concert of this tour. It was an incredible night - Coldplay were superb. It was so exciting to be there to see some of the concert, and to meet so many fans. The Belgian crowd were really interested in the Make Trade Fair campaign too - Tom and his team from Oxfam in Belgium worked so hard before the concert, talking to people about the campaign and getting sign-ups for the petition. The signatures are being counted right now, so as soon as I know the total I'll put it up on the blog.
I'll also put up a few more photos from last night - don't worry, it's no 'trouble' (sorry).
Chris
posted at 1:02 PM
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Piano = legendary
My favourite piano in the world! I managed to get this photo just minutes before the band went on stage. They're playing right now as I blog...I can hear them and they sound incredible. Woo hoo!
posted at 8:36 PM
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Brief briefing.
Here's the team getting briefed on the Make Trade Fair campaign, ready to take it to the masses! We'll be asking people to join the Make Trade Fair petition - you can do it here.
There are 3 Oxfams in Belgium (it's not a little confusing!). Oxfam Wereldwinkels ("world shops") are the Oxfam shops here, except they don't sell second-hand clothes. They sell a whole range of Fair Trade products (under the 'Oxfam Fair Trade' mark). There are 200 shops, 7,000 volunteers and 160 different Fair Trade food products. Last year, there was a turnover of 16 million Euros.
Then there's Oxfam Solidarite which does campaigning and advocacy work.
See, this blog is informative - you learn something new everyday!
There'll be a test on Oxfam in Belgium tomorrow - answers on a postcard.
posted at 7:10 PM
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Team Belgium!
Oxfam in Belgium has come up trumps! Look at the beautiful people next to the stand we've got here at the Sportspalais in Antwerp. The Oxfam stand is in a great location, right next to the front doors, so everyone's going to see us - I'm over the moon! The doors open any minute now, so I've got to get out there and try to speak some Flemish, but just had time to put a quick blog.
The team is really excited - Coldplay are really popular here...the tickets sold out in 20 minutes! And we're hoping to get loads and loads of sign-ups. Tom, who's the Oxfam Belgium coordinator, is setting some very ambitious targets - I'm hoping the team live up to them.
I'll take some more photos during the evening - keep an eye out for them.
posted at 5:35 PM
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Goodbye England, bonjour France!
 That's the view from my window on the train as we came out of the Channel Tunnel in France. I've never been on the Eurostar before...another first for me!
It's really sunny outside, I'm hoping it will be the same in Antwerp. Nearly there!
posted at 1:00 PM
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At the concerts...
 Actually, just time for one more blog from the office to tell you what we're doing at the concerts. It's absolutely brilliant that Coldplay give us the opportunity to raise awareness of the Make Trade Fair campaign on their tours. You can read the journal written by Najat who coordinated the Oxfam presence on the US tour here.
At each concert, we have a team of volunteers who talk to the crowd about the issues behind the Make Trade Fair campaign. Wearing their Make Trade Fair T-shirts, they give the campaign a high visibility which is great. We also have a stall with information leaflets and temporary tattoos to reproduce that genuine Chris Martin 'equals-sign-on-the-hand' look. We'll be taking some awesome photos of everything that's going on at the concert too to give you a behind-the-scenes flavour!
Watch this space...!
posted at 4:41 PM
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Where, when, why...
Just thought I'd let you know the tour schedule before I go. I'm off to Antwerp tomorrow early morning, so it'll be blogging en route from now on!
26th Oct: Antwerp
28th Oct: Oberhausen
30th Oct: Copenhagen
31st Oct: Oslo
7th Nov: Stockholm
9th Nov: Leipzig
10th Nov: Mannheim
12th Nov: Zurich
14th Nov: Milan
15th Nov: Bologna | 17th Nov: Marseille
18th Nov: Toulouse
20th Nov: Barcelona
22nd Nov: Madrid
23rd Nov: Lisbon
25th Nov: San Sebastian
28th Nov: Lyon
29th Nov: Paris
30th Nov: Antwerp |
See you there hopefully!
posted at 4:32 PM
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2 days to go
 Welcome to this blog! Coldplay have kindly agreed to allow us to take the Make Trade Fair campaign on the road with them on the European leg of their sell-out Twisted Logic tour. I'll be keeping you up to date with all the news and photos from around Europe. I'm currently just doing the final preparations in the office - I'm off on Wednesday to Antwerp for the first concert.
I'm a huge Coldplay fan. I saw them at Glastonbury this year, and can't wait to see them in concert again. I'm really excited too about campaigning to Make Trade Fair - it's such a crucial time with the World Trade Organisation Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December approaching fast.
Only 2 days to go before I leave - there's been loads to do, and it's only just begun!
Hope you like the photo - it's me 'In My Place' at work... He he.
Speak soon, Chris.
posted at 4:10 PM
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