SOCIAL ACCOUNTS for the year ended 30 September 2013
below. These events have been structured to facilitate an open debate on topics suggested by members. To gauge the success of these events we have introduced feedback forms. Ethical Investment Debate, Oxford On 6 October 2012 we were joined by almost 70 guests, a third of whom were Shared Interest members, to discuss the importance of ethical investment and its impact. Shared Interest Board member, Carol Wills opened the event with a speech on the history of the fair trade movement (the full text can be found on our website). This was followed by questions and answers with a panel of experts. Andrew Studdert-Kennedy, Rural Dean and Team Rector of Marlborough, discussed his research on ethical finance, which has been written up for the St Paul’s Institute. Feedback forms showed 74% of attendees rating the event as excellent or very good. Brighton Member Meeting In celebration of World Fair Trade Day 2013 we held a member event in Brighton. This involved three panellists discussing the impact of social investment in fair trade. During the presentations Simon Maxwell, Director at the Overseas Development Institute, described Shared Interest and our members as “pioneering and courageous” in recognising that trade is vital for development and challenged the audience to consider how fair trade can be scaled up sustainably and effectively. Attendance at this event was lower than expected but 95% of the attendees rated it as excellent or very good. Annual General Meeting, Newcastle The 23rd Members’ Day and AGM was held at the Assembly Rooms, Newcastle, on 15 March 2013. The event proved to be a great success with nearly 100 members joining us. Feedback was positive, with many stating that highlights included: meeting like-minded members, participating in the workshops, talking to the overseas team, and hearing firsthand the impact their investment has made. Following member feedback last year, we introduced three structured workshops into the AGM with attendees having the opportunity to participate in all discussions. The first workshop entitled ‘Environment – Where do we stand?’ was facilitated by Ian Barney, former Managing Director of TWIN. Members were asked to consider topics such as ‘How important is the environment to you and why?’ and ‘To what extent should Shared Interest seek to encourage good environmental practices amongst its customers?’ A second workshop gave members the opportunity to ask both the overseas team and customer, Gabriel Kamudu of Craft Aid Mauritius, questions around Shared Interest lending and its impact. Finally, Head of Shared Interest Foundation, Chris Pay was joined by Faith Ndunge from Swazi partner SWIFT to present on the capacity building work of the Foundation and its future strategic direction. We followed up the environmental workshop at the AGM with questions on this topic in the membership survey. These are reported under Aim 5, Activity 1.
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