Twinning Association Open Evening

Cheltenham Twinning Association are having an Open Evening next Tuesday (25th January). The meeting will be held at the Municipal offices on the Promenade in the Montpellier rooms.

Morgan will be giving a talk about Global Footsteps! Twinning Officer Annette Wight sent through the following information. Hope to see you there:

Please come along to the Cheltenham Twinning Association Open Evening next Tuesday 25 January, from 6.45 for 7 pm start, until approx 8.30pm. There will be wine, soft drinks and nibbles and time to chat.

We will be telling you more about this year's big event - the 60th anniversary visit to Göttingen from 29 July to 5 August. Come and hear more about the trip and ask any questions you may have.

Global Footsteps' Director Morgan Phillips, will also be outlining the international development work that this local charity are involved in and some young people will give brief presentations on visits made last summer to Hungary for an international dance and culture festival for young people and to Göttingen for the International Peace camp. So please come along and give them your support and hear about their experiences.

The evening is open to all - not just Association members, so do bring family and friends along.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible next week and if you are able to send a quick email reply to indicate whether you are able to come along, that would help us with the number of glasses we shall need!!!

Best regards
Annette

PS : if you can't make the meeting and have registered your interest with me in the visit to Göttingen, information will still be sent to you within the next couple of weeks.

Local History in Pictures

Last night, local amateur historian Ron Prewer dropped by to show us his collection of historical photo's of Cheltenham.

Ron is a real enthusiast and, over the years has built up a huge collection of photo's showing the different parts of Cheltenham through the ages. We had about 15 people in and they all asked questions, made comments and even chipped in interesting little facts about the houses, buildings and streets Ron showed us.

Ron's pictorial tour took us through St Pauls and then South to Leckhampton, but it feels like we've only just begun, Ron is keen to come back to show us other parts of Cheltenham, we've pencilled in February 2nd 2011 for the next show!

If you'd like to find out more about Cheltenham's history, or even get some tips from Ron about researching your local area or family tree, please him an email to: RonPrewer@hotmail.com

Global Venture to Bangladesh

On July 6th four young Global Footsteps members will depart for Bangladesh on a twp week fact finding visit to the newly established community capacity building project, the HRA Foundation in Nowder village, Bishwanath, Sylhet. The visit is being led by Global Footsteps co-ordinator Morgan Phillips who will be accompanied by two young film makers, Josh Sanger and George Allen, who will document the trip and a trainee teacher, Alice Matthews. Alice has made links with the Gloucestershire based education initiative ‘Sharing Communities’ and will gather resources on their behalf.

As well as the HRA Foundation the four will visit several other NGO projects and several other key people involved in improving life for the ordinary citizens of Bangladesh. On returning to the UK they will report back to the Global Footsteps membership the wider community through a short documentary film and a series of presentations.

Global Footsteps has closely assisted Mr. Arosh Ali, founder of the HRA Foundation, in creating a new charitable trust The Friends of Nowder. Mr Ali has lived in the UK for over thirty years but felt moved to transform land and buildings left to him by his late father into a centre to serve his home community. The HRA Foundation is two years old and provides primary healthcare and education for all as well as vocational training for men and women. The Friends of Nowder is a grant making organisation and hopes that the HRA is the first of many similar projects it will support. The goal, in time, for the HRA is to be a self sustaining project funded primarily by an on location women’s textile cooperative and eco-tourism facility. It hopes to grow in line with Social Business principles.

Cheltenham MP, Martin Horwood, is a keen supporter of The Friends of Nowder and will become its patron. He had the following to say about the project and the forthcoming visit:

‘Having worked for Oxfam in the past, I know the immense value to poor communities of well thought out projects based on local knowledge. This project should improve health and education in this very poor part of Bangladesh and empower local people to earn more income and improve their situation. But it’s essential to make sure the project is well run and this trip by Global Footsteps is an important part of that plan. I wish them well.’

Can you host students from China this summer?

I'd like to draw your attention to a request in the Cheltenham Weihai Link newsletter. I hope you can help.

Students from Weihai

In July two groups of young people from Weihai will be coming to Cheltenham to study on the summer English Language courses at Gloucestershire college. The College are short of families to host in the Cheltenham area and ask that if anyone would be interested in having some Weihai students please contact Wendy Clark at GlosColl on 01242 532007 or Annette Wight, 01242 264311 (Annette.Wight@cheltenham.gov.uk) for a form. The first group will be here from 11 July for 3 weeks and the second group from 19 July for 2 weeks.

If you can offer any accomodation that would be great. We are keen to build our links with Weihai over the next few years, hopefully if we can host one or two students it will help us to build this relationship.

Election Fever: HUSTINGS

With Election Fever gripping the country I thought I'd turn this email into a blog post (I got permission)! It is from an intern at Oxfam and is all about the upcoming HUSTINGS in Cheltenham next week. Try and get along if you are about!

Hi,

May I introduce myself? I am Alison Shaw, currently working as an intern assistant political campaigner in the Oxfam South West Campaigns office. We are active on a range of campaigning issues seeking to work with many individuals, organisations, local communities and coalitions to promote our concerns to politicians, the media, activists and young people.

We form part of many coalitions, one of which is Ask the Climate Question. This is an initiative to make climate change a key issue for the 2010 General Election. It is organised by Oxfam, WWF, RSPB, Christian Aid, Tearfund, Greenpeace, CAFOD, Stop Climate Chaos & the Green Alliance. The campaign is focussed on key marginal constituencies, of which Cheltenham is one.

With the General Election fast approaching there are lots of events, debates and discussions happening across the country. You are invited to join us to Ask the Climate Question.

Your local hustings is on Tuesday 27^th April in Cheltenham

Time: doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start, 9.30pm finish
Location: The Sanctuary, St. Andrew’s United Reformed Church, Montpellier Street, Montpellier, Cheltenham GL50 1SP
Question time panel:
James Green – Labour Party
Martin Horwood – Liberal Democrat Party
Mark Coote – Conservative Party
Peter Bowman – UKIP Party

Come along to listen or ask your Prospective Parliamentary Candidates questions on climate issues.

To submit your questions email Roger James at rjames@oxfam.org.uk

Kenyan Venturers in the Echo

Daisy Blacklock at the Gloucestershire Echo interviewed our Founder Dennis Mitchell following the recent Film screening held at Friends Meeting House. Please click on the article to read it in full.

Monday in Kisumu

We spent the whole of Monday in Kisumu meeting various people, below is a report

Monday 6th July

The first appointment on Monday was a meeting with the Mayor of Kisumu at the town hall. Howard had collected letters from the Mayor of Cheltenham, Lord Surgener and Lord Nigel Jones and we passed them to the Mayor. He very graciously received them and presented us with a Kisumu plaque for us to pass onto his counterpart in Cheltenham. He was encouraged by the letters we had delivered and told us how happy he was to see people connecting at a grass roots level. He did, however, tell us that he was disappointed that Cheltenham seems to have fallen behind its other linked cities in Germany, Sweden and the USA. He hoped that the links between Kisumu and Cheltenham will be revitalised at a Civic level in the future and will write to the Mayor of Cheltenham to express this optimism.

After our meeting with the Mayor we headed in an old seven- seater Peugot matatu to Kisumu airport. We had an appointment with the Meteorological department. We were hoping to get some insider opinion on the impacts that climate change is having in this region. We spoke with the Deputy Provincial Director for Meteorology – Berike Arera. He was very cagey not allowing us to record the conversation, he explained that he was only willing (or allowed) to discuss the data collected in Kisumu. He could not talk about climate change or long term trends and even though we pushed him quite hard he would not speculate on what the weather might do in the next few years. They are not involved in prediction.

He did explain to us however the traditional pattern in the weather here. Kisumu is almost on the equator, but this does not mean the weather is the same all year round. The weather here is affected by weather patterns in other parts of the world as these effect the winds converging or not at the equator, winds that bring in moisture from the Indian Ocean. Kisumu usually has a Long Rains season during April, May and June during which it can expect to receive around 50-70mm / day of rainfall. It then has a Short rains season in October and November. The temperature drops a little during these periods, at all other times it is hot and dry. Arera told us that in recent years there has a dramatic reduction in rainfall during both of the rainy seasons, he said that last year was below average and this year was lower again. This is a big concern as this is not a part of the world that copes well with drought conditions. When there is little rainfall crops fail and people get hungry, it is as simple as that. All around Kisumu we have seen evidence of this, there are fields full of failed Maize crops and the news is full of stories about predicted shortfalls in other crops.

Our day on Monday ended with a dramatic thunderstorm which lasted for around 2 hours bringing much needed rain. The wise residents here collect rainfall from their roofs when it falls. They use this ‘grey’ water to flush toilets and water any plants they may have in their compounds. Aby’s host, Michael, uses this water for his paper making business. This was the first serious rainfall we have experienced since we have been in Kenya, it was certainly very refreshing.

HRA Foundation / Curry With Love

Global Footsteps is partnered with a Bangladeshi Community Capacity building project called The HRA Foundation. It has recently run into difficulties, Global Footsteps director Morgan Phillips has written a report outlining the problems and is trying to raise awareness and support. This message is currently being sent out to journalists:

The HRA Foundation, a community capacity building project based in the Bishwanath sub-district of Sylhet, Bangladesh, has been forcefully and illegally closed down by powerful and self-interested local members of the ruling Awami League Political Party. The Awami League promised in its recent election manifesto, Vision 2021, that it is ‘committed to freeing Bangladesh from its current state of crisis and building a country whose citizens are able to live prosperous and happy lives.’1 The HRA Foundation was set up along very similar principles to the Vision 2021, it is supported by UK partners The Rendezvous Society (UK registered charity: 293357) and Martin Horwood MP (Cheltenham, Lib Dem). Its closure clearly contradicts Awami League promises and is an example of the political obstacles standing in the way of economic and social development in Bangladesh. Awami League public representatives with dual Bangladesh and British citizenship are implicated by their non action. They have thus far failed to attempt any arbitration and have willingly and very wrongfully painted the closure of the foundation as a simple family feud over property rights. The reasons for its initial closure were due to disagreements at a micro level, its continued closure highlights worrying truths about the Awami League at a macro level.

The HRA foundation was founded by Arosh Ali and is financed purely by the Curry With Love Bangladeshi takeaway and delivery service in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. I have uploaded a report outlining the origins and current situation of the HRA Foundation and Curry With Love to the Global Footsteps news page. Please read it here

News from Jeff Murphy

Jeff Murphy attended two of our conferences: Footstep 10 and Footstep 11. He recently sent us news of what he is up to now (congratulations are in order!):

I work as an Analyst for Sightlines LLC, a consulting firm that works with higher education to extend the life of buildings and building systems as well as create more efficient and effective facilities departments. My emerging role in the company is with our newest product called GreenLine, which seeks to identify and quantify all of the sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) on campus. I have already finished analyses of the University of Vermont, Champlain College, Vassar College, Oregon Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Eastern Oregon University and Wagner College. I am also working closely with the Vice President of Product Development to introduce a supplementary product, which helps colleges and universities that have completed an emissions inventory select and track the progress of projects that make tangible reductions to their campus emissions. We will be starting this at our first pilot school, Smith College, next month.

I have also recently proposed to my long-time girlfriend and am in the planning stages of, what I hope to be a green if not carbon-neutral, wedding. We are looking into buying wedding rings made of recycled metal, we are having the ceremony and reception at a inn/farm in Vermont that focuses around local and seasonal foods, we hope to buy carbon offsets to eliminate travel emissions by our guests and will be providing re-usable bags, re-usable water bottles and a seedling as part of our party favors for our guests (kind of a green starter-pack).