How it works
When you bring a bag of donated clothes containing at least one item of M&S clothing to almost any of Oxfam's shops, you'll get a voucher for €7/£5 off your next purchase of €50/£35 or more of clothing, homeware or beauty products in M&S. Offer starts on 28 January 2008 and vouchers are valid during the calendar month in which they are received.
M&S is supporting this offer as one of its 100 'Plan A' commitments - to provide customers with a recycling service for used clothing, which will go a long way to fulfilling its overall aim of sending no waste to landfill from its own operations.
What Oxfam do:
Long Term Development Work
Oxfam Ireland's overseas development programme aims to give long-term support to people in Africa in a way that avoids dependency. We help people to access their basic rights to a secure livelihood, shelter, clean water, education and healthcare. We empower people to seek their rights at a local and national level and to have a voice in how their lives are governed. Oxfam Ireland works through local non-governmental agencies and community groups and with other members of the Oxfam International confederation. These are our partners in finding long term solutions to poverty
HIV and AIDS
HIV and AIDS is a reality for almost 40 million people globally. The vast majority live in developing countries and many struggle with the dual burden of poverty and AIDS. Oxfam Ireland recognises that AIDS both undermines efforts to eradicate poverty and directly causes poverty. It also accounts for immeasurable suffering for millions who are infected with HIV and for those who live with its consequences. More than 20 million people have died of AIDS in the past twenty years and while there are some positive developments in isolated countries and situations, the trend is still upwards.
Oxfam also work alongside other members of the Oxfam family and other Non-Governmental Organisations in Ireland to keep HIV and AIDS high on both political and development agendas. Oxfam Ireland's HIV and AIDS programmes in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tanzania enable locally-based community organisations to work effectively on prevention and care and work for a more just environment for those living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. The programmes recognise the importance of addressing the gender dimensions of the epidemic and the way in which women and girls are adversely affected by cultural, traditional and social factors over which they have little control.
Oxfam Ireland considers HIV and AIDS to be key to all of its work; we are therefore supporting staff and partner organisations in the Horn, East and Central Africa to make their work (in livelihoods or humanitarian) more relevant to AIDS. Oxfam International HIV mainstreaming programmes are supported in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, where Oxfam Ireland is also supporting livelihoods and humanitarian programmes. In these countries HIV and AIDS is addressed in the workplace and in programmes.
Oxfam Ireland's Humanitarian Programme
The aim of Oxfam Ireland's humanitarian programme is to respond to human suffering in order to defend the right of every human being to life and security.
Oxfam considers these rights as prerequisites to achieving social and economic justice and sustainable development. Oxfam's work is based on achieving what we call 'Strategic Change Objectives'. In the context of our humanitarian work, this means that we focus on the right of every person to life and security.
In order to work with poor people in achieving these rights, we focus on two key areas which aim:
· To ensure that fewer people will die, fall sick or suffer deprivation as a result of armed conflict or natural disasters.
· To ensure that fewer people will suffer personal or communal violence, forced displacement, or armed conflict.
Oxfam's humanitarian focus is therefore in assisting people who are directly affected by emergency situations, whether natural disasters or armed conflicts, while also attempting to address the root causes of such emergencies.
They strive to provide high quality support to partners in East, Central or Southern Africa through supporting timely, appropriate and innovative humanitarian programmes. And we aim to mainstream HIV/AIDS and gender concerns in the design and implementation of all our humanitarian programmes.
Oxfam recognises that in order to effectively alleviate immediate suffering in emergency situations, we must tackle their long term effects through helping people and communities to recover after a crisis has occurred and through supporting people living through chronic emergencies, such as armed conflicts.
Humanitarian programmes in conflict situations
Sudan:
Oxfam Ireland's programme in Sudan is supported by Irish Aid and provides water and sanitation facilities in communities in Mundri County in South Sudan to enable people to access clean and safe drinking water sources.
Liberia
Oxfam is being supported by Irish Aid in meeting critical public health and protection needs of 45,000 people who have been affected by the conflict in Liberia. Read Oxfam's Beyond the Headlines Report which highlights the plight of civilians living in the midst of conflicts neglected by the international community.
Humanitarian Standards
Oxfam strives to meet internationally agreed humanitarian standards throughout our work. Oxfam is a signatory to the SPHERE Humanitarian Charter and the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non Governmental Organisations (NGO's) in Disaster Relief.
They believe that understanding the root causes of emergencies should be at the heart of our humanitarian work.
For further information on Oxfam and its activities please check their website www.oxfamireland.org
Terms & Conditions for M&S Clothes Exchange
· You'll be given a voucher worth €7/£5 for every clothing donation you make which contains at least one item of M&S clothing.
· This offer does not include donations of the following M&S clothing: lingerie, swimwear, underwear, socks, or damaged or soiled items.
· This offer does include donations of M&S shoes, handbags, belts, hats and scarves.
· This voucher entitles you to €7/£5 off your next purchase of €50/£35 or more on clothing, home and beauty products in participating M&S stores.
· The following Oxfam Ireland shops are not able to participate in this offer:
o Fair Trade Shop, Galway
o Fair Trade Shop, Belfast
o Fair Trade Shop, Dublin
o Fair Trade Shop, Cork
o Oxfambooks, Parliament St, Dublin
o Oxfam Shop, Tralee
· The voucher is redeemable only during the calendar month in which you receive it.
· This voucher is not redeemable against M&S food.
· This voucher is not redeemable on purchases made online or over the phone.
· Only one voucher will be distributed per donation.
Only one voucher can be used for each transaction of €50/£35 or more.
Source: www.oxfamireland.org
