Those present
- Mike King
- Jhon Munoz
- Sheena King
- Ivan Cicin-Sain – Wycombe Friends of the Earth
- Sarah Moroz
Apologies
Tony Thornby
Minutes
MK – The Environmental, Sustainability and Fairtrade committee meeting at Bucks New Uni did go ahead but due to technical issues. MK was unable to join. MK has the minutes though.
Wycombe FOE/Population Matters
I C-S – re: Population Matters – no updates to report at the moment.
Wycombe FOE has been fairly active – thinking of starting a food campaign (food waste angle). They are also active in the Bucks Climate Action alliance – an amalgam of about 10 local groups.
Wycombe FOE have been lobbying councillors
MK – has a list of all the current members of the Bucks Climate Action group. Sees no reason for us not to join.
SK – agrees – climate and FT are all linked. SM also agreed
MK – he will go ahead and join the alliance on-line.
I C-S – Mike Chadwick is the overall organiser of this
Website/Facebook updates
MK – on behalf of TT – TT has amended the Wycombe Environment Centre entry, removed the Wycombe Transition town entry and replaced it with Wycombe FOE details. TT has asked MK to check on details of the eco-artist listed on our site.
SK – TT has also put several recent posts on our Facebook site
Grecia/Coope Victoria link
MK – re: the banner – JM has been in contact with Maria in Grecia and they are working on the English text that we sent to them. They are also going to put a plaque up in Grecia stating that Wycombe is their sister town and want MK/SK to unveil it when they are finally able to visit. They also want us to be involved in a campaign (see later)
Journal of Fair Trade article
MK – Pauline Tiffen has got back to them to say that they are going to publish it. It is now going out to a second reviewer and they want the diagrams in a different format. TT may be able to do this. It will be in the issue after July.
Money matters
SK – our current balance is £251.75.
MK – has now printed off the public liability insurance document – it is valid up to the 31st November 2021. The FT Foundation hopes to be able to offer this again the following year.
Fairtrade Fortnight/other events
MK – 2 areas to develop for this: churches and Grecia
Churches – Angus is leading this – he has contacts with administrators in various churches. After FT Fornight, the FT Foundation is starting a campaign to see which churches are registered and still active. They are changing to an on-line database and are simplifying the procedure. We could follow this with an e-mail from Wycombe for Fairtrade. The FT Foundation is sending its e-mails out in order of the churches’ previous applications, not by area. However, MK has spoken to Chrysi Dimaki from FT Foundation and she will do a search on any particular churches we ask about. MK will be talking to Angus tomorrow.
JM – re: Coronavirus – Costa Rica is starting a vaccination plan. Maria is sending information about what Coope Victoria are planning for later in the year. JM will translate and we can put it up on our website etc. They also talked about exchange of letters between students in our 2 countries re: FT, economics etc. Suggested that we arrange a meeting between teachers of the 2 towns to discuss ideas and thus to start establishing connections
MK – has investigated the names of staff members at Wycombe High and John Hampden so far, in relevant subjects. We also need to contact the headteachers to discuss it. Environment and climate change could also be included.
JM – Maria has a school she is planning to make contact with first.
MK – Maria did say they would like to help students to improve their English. As soon as she has the contacts, she will let us know.
SM – Has received an e-mail from Mayor of Tunbridge Wells re: an event on 5th March – a webinar involving Adam Gardner from the FT Foundation, a Kenyan tea producer and a UK farmer. Will forward the e-mail on to rest of group
SK – Traidcraft Exchange are encouraging people to fundraise for them between 8th March and 7th June because any amount raised will be doubled by the government during this time. MK/SK have been sent a Big Brew guide. Also a 100km virtual walk to be completed during April to raise money – SK would like to do this. They are also hosting 3 quizzes.
Costa Rican anniversary coffee
MK – re: the potential 200th anniversary Costa Rican coffee – this may still be possible this year and our contact is hoping to progress it. It is hoped to produce a batch which mentions the Grecia/Wycombe link on its packaging.
Fairtrade Easter eggs
SK – was approached by a lady at church to ask if Christ the Servant King church were selling Real Easter eggs this year. SK has spoken to the church administrator at CSK and they are putting a notice about it in the church newsletter
Next meeting
16th March