MINUTES

12th BRUNEL FAIRTRADE STEERING GROUP MEETING

Date: Monday11thJanuary 2010

Location: LC006, Lecture Centre

Time: 1.00pm – 2.00pm

Chair:Prof Ken Darby-Dowman (PVC Strategy & Staff Dev)

Present:Professor Ian Campbell (PVC External Relations)

Mr Joost De Folter (Student)

Mr Joe Greenwood (UBS)

Mrs Linda Hazell (Planning)

Mr Andrew Kershaw (Director External Affairs) Mrs Jess Luscombe (Computer Centre)

Ms Teresa Sam (UBS)

Rev. Charles Sargent (Meeting House)

Mr Howard Shearer (Catering)

Mr Mayele Yambila (Procurement)

Apologies:-Professor Rob Macredie (PVC Student Experience)

Mr Bob Stiff (Energy & Sustainability Manager)

Ms Beverley Williams (Costcutter)

1.0Apologies & Welcome

Received as listed above.

2.0Notes of the meeting held 15December

The notes of the last meeting were accepted as a true record with the following two amendments:

i)Mrs Jess Luscombe requested the inclusion of her Department.

ii)Democratic Support Co-ordinator would contact the Freetrade think tank, not the Fairtrade think tank, referred to in 5.1 Debate of point 5.0 2009/10 Programme.

3.0Matters Arising

3.1Fairtrade Foundation Recommendations:

  • Fairtrade Cotton

PVC Strategy & Staff Development had discussed the issue of sourcing Fairtrade cotton merchandise with Director Resources & Operations. In addition to Sports Centre, Catering and Student Centre, it was suggested that Residences could be included in the list of Departments that could potentially source Fairtrade certified cotton products. Democratic Support Co-ordinator had sent supplier details to PVC Strategy & Staff Development and was to double-check a promotional email from another supplier. PVC Strategy & Staff Development to discuss with relevant Departmental Heads.(ACTION JG/KDD)

Rev. Sargent suggested that Sue Curley (Alumni) may have details of a Fairtrade cotton company set up by a previous student. (ACTION JG)

  • PVC Strategy & Staff Development would contact Kish Patel (Campus Pharmacy) with a view to ascertaining the possibility of sourcing Fairtrade beauty products. (ACTION KDD)
  • Rococo – Catering Manager reported that in addition to Fairtrade being promoted outside Rococo, POS material had been obtained from the supplier which would be displayed inside the premises. This would hopefully draw more attention to the Fairtrade products available.
  • Coffee at meetings – Catering Manager had contacted his supplier about the problem of ‘keeping quality’ of the current Fairtrade coffee. A new system of keeping the coffee warm had been sourced and delivery of equipment was expected in the near future. It is hoped this will improve the quality of coffee served at internal meetings. (ACTION HS)

3.2Steering Group Composition

Discussion followed on the perennial problem of recruiting and retaining student members. Democratic Support Co-ordinator would contact the 2 Law students who had attended the last meeting. It was thought academic commitments had prevented them from attending today, as they were keen to join the group.

(ACTION JG)

It was reiterated that Fairtrade Fortnight would be the next best opportunity to promote the Fairtrade cause. PVC Strategy & Staff Development believed that the group needed to identify those who would be committed and attempt to hold all meetings at the optimum time and venue. Democratic Support Co-ordinator agreed that keeping meetings to the same time and venue was the best way of retaining student membership and achieving maximum attendance

Democratic Support Co-ordinator suggested using Doodle – a web-based programme which could be used for interested parties to indicate their availability for future meetings of the Fairtrade Steering Group. (LH to investigate)

4.02009/10 Programme

4.1Debate

Democratic Support Co-ordinator reported on his progress to date regarding the planned Debate. A date had been set – Thursday 4 March – and he had three willing and available speakers on the ‘opposing’ side. Only one would be approached to join the debate, but it was agreed that we should attempt to keep the remaining two ‘on board and interested’ for any future event.

Democratic Support Co-ordinator would contact Fairtrade Foundation to source a ‘pro’ speaker. (ACTION JG)

Events had the Debate listed provisionally on the intranet.

4.2Fairtrade Fortnight

Discussion followed on the events which took place last year:

Go Bananas – it was agreed that this event had resulted in a photograph which had been used on numerous occasions to publicise Fairtrade.

Beer and Wine Tasting

Cook Offs in the Meeting House

Unfair Funfair – it was agreed to site this in a more prominent position which would improve participation – Democratic Support Co-ordinator and VP Community Welfare would follow this up with Joel Brasher-Jones. (ACTION JG & TS)

There was still a substantial amount of publicity material remaining from the Launch Event, which could be used during Fairtrade Fortnight.

Rev. Sargent listed the events the Chaplaincy intended to host:

22 February & 1 MarchStudent Cookery Sessions (evening)

24 February & 3 MarchFree tea and coffee

25 FebruaryChocolate Tasting (part of One World Week)

4 MarchStaff Cookery Sessions (lunch)

5 MarchWine and Beer Tasting

An announcement could be made on the UBS webpage and it was agreed that a list of Fairtrade Fortnight events be published in the 8 February issue of LeNurb. The deadline for copy was 21 January. (ACTION LH/TS)

It would also be publicised on the Brunel intranet. (ACTION AK)

It was agreed to contact one of the One World Week organisers to ascertain their events running order, before finalising the calendar for Fairtrade Fortnight. This would avoid any clashes. (ACTION LH)

4.3Future Events

Rev. Sargent reported that cookery and wine & beer tasting sessions would be held during Refreshers Week in May. Democratic Support Co-ordinator reported that UBS now have a key contact for SU events and he would email her this information. (ACTION JG)

Discussion followed on activities that other Universities may organise for Fairtrade. Rev. Sargent reported that, to his knowledge, the HEIs he dealt with did not participate to the same level as Brunel. PVC External Relations commented that Fairtrade Foundation may have carried out some analysis of successful events/activities. Democratic Support Co-ordinator offered to contact Fairtrade Foundation in this respect. He also suggested contacting People & Planet for future events. (ACTION JG)

PVC External Relations and Director External Affairs would look at a school link into Fairtrade, as some may already have established activities as part of the curriculum in citizenship. It may be a little late to collaborate with schools for this year’s One World Week/Fairtrade Fortnight, but could be a possibility for 2011.

(ACTION IC/AK)

5.0Preparation for application renewal

PVC Strategy & Staff Development reminded the Group that we hoped to renew our application in early May. Our log of activity and events would be kept up to date in this respect. (ACTION LH)

6.0Any Other Business

The suggestion that we encourage Schools and Departments to purchase Fairtrade tea and coffee for use in the staff kitchen areas was discussed. Mayele Yambila (Procurement) offered to research the cost of Fairtrade products alongside branded offerings from Tesco and Sainsbury. It would then be possible to contact groups and individuals from Departments and Schools with this information, in the hope that they may consider swapping their Kenco for Fairtrade. (ACTION MY)

7.0Date of next meeting

It was agreed that the group would need to meet during w/c 8 February 2010, in order to plan and progress report on activities for Fairtrade Fortnight. (ACTION LH)

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