5Th BRUNEL FAIRTRADE STEERING GROUP MEETING

MINUTES

5th BRUNEL FAIRTRADE STEERING GROUP MEETING

Date: Tuesday 31st March 2009

Location: A102 in WB

Time: 2 – 3 pm

Chair: Prof Ken Darby-Dowman (PVC – Strategy)

Minutes

1.0Welcome and Introduction

2.0Purpose and draft terms of reference

Members agreed on terms of reference and particularly expressed support for setting up a Fairtrade website. Staff in Marketing will be contacted to install a website and the student member agreed to contribute to running the site.

3.0 Review of Fairtrade Fortnight

• Catering’s participation in Fairtrade Fortnight: the Head of Catering informed the members that a number of actions were taken by the members of Catering to promote Fairtrade products – members wore Fairtrade outfits and Fairtrade leaflets and brochures were always available on each table of the food hall. Catering offered Fairtrade menus throughout the fortnight, which was well received by students. The Head of Catering pointed out the difficulty of having Fairtrade menus available at all times. He was advised to look at practices by other universities who belong to the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC). The Procurement officer would also contribute to conducting research on other universities’ catering.

• Costcutter’s sale by the retail manager: the Retail Manager was not able to attend the meeting but members were informed of her difficulty in stocking more Fairtrade products due to the contract with the existing campus store. The Chair mentioned that he would speak with the Managing Director of the Resources and Operations regarding this.

• Fairtrade events by the Chaplain and the Democratic Support Coordinator: The Chaplain informed the members that the Fairtrade cookery as well as the chocolate, wine and beer tastings that the Meeting House organised were well-received by the students and staff on campus. Regarding the unfair-funfair event, the Democratic Support Coordinator expressed a little disappointment that not as many students were engaged as expected, but he mentioned that it would be much easier to repeat the events next year, led by students.

4.0 Application for accreditation as a Fairtrade University

Members reviewed the University’s current status in relation to the requirements of Fairtrade Foundation (5 Goals) to achieve Fairtrade status. Members agreed that the University fulfilled all the requirements and therefore was ready to apply for Fairtrade accreditation. The application would be made by the end of April.

5.0Programme of Activities for 2009

5.1Promotion of Fairtrade on campus

Members agreed that the Fairtrade stall could be held for the upcoming re-fresher’s week at the end of May. Members also mentioned that a Fairtrade stall could be held on Environment Day (soon to be confirmed) and on Fresher’s week in September. The Energy and Sustainability manager would inform members regarding Environment Day at the next meeting. There will be other means to seek better communication with students, such as through Facebook.

5.2 Community involvement

Members agreed that there should be more activities that involve the Uxbridge community. Members mentioned that Andy Stubbs, the Uxbridge Town Centre Manager, would be invited to the next meeting.

5.3Fairtrade website

Members agreed to set up a website that would serve as a means to communicate with both internal and external communities.

6.0AOB

The Energy and Sustainability manger informed members that he’s been filling out the Green League 2009 questionnaire.

7.0Date of next meeting

Early May 2009