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From left: Rebecca Dakin, Dianne Bulled, Liisa Jones and Andy Ross. Photo: Rebecca Dakin.

From fighting fires to responding to local emergencies, this group of Whakatāne volunteers have a new challenge ahead of them – walking 100 kilometres to help fight poverty.

All four team members met through volunteering for Whakatāne Rural Fire and New Zealand Emergency and Rescue Unit 17.

“We have Liisa who is our district-wide SPCA inspector, and got heavily involved in the Edgecumbe floods. We’ve got Dianne – who is involved in things like Whakatāne Athletics and Harriers Club and organising the Toi’s Challenge. Dianne is our team leader and an experienced adventure-racing lady!

“Then we’ve got Andy – he is just fantastic. He started as a mountain guide, then got into adventure sports like kayaking, and is looking forward to the different challenge that this event involves.

“Then you’ve got me – I am a Whakatāne District Council worker and I volunteer for the SPCA,” says team member Rebecca Dakin.

The team love giving back to their local community through volunteering their time and skills, and it was this that got them hooked on Oxfam Trailwalker.

“Most of us come from community-focused involvement. It’s our community, and it’s our home, and we want to help. You feel like you’re making a difference if you can get out there and do something to help someone.

“I’ve done quite a few half marathons now but am just looking for something to keep me going and a little bit of a challenge. I volunteered last year at [Oxfam Trailwalker] and I saw the teams and thought ‘wow, that’s something I really want to do.’

“Oxfam is a good cause… anything for charity is something that generally we’ll get involved in.”

On paper, the length of the trail can seem like a very long way – but Rebecca is looking forward to challenging herself to something new.

“To me, personally it’s a bit daunting, but I think to be part of such a neat team with just such nice people, I really want to get over the end for them.

“The mental idea of completing 100 kilometres in one go and keeping the stamina to drive ourselves across the finish line is the focus. And the highlight will be just getting over the finish! I’m quite excited about walking through the night as well, just because it’s something I’ve never done.”

As a Whakatāne District Council employee, Rebecca knows what Oxfam Trailwalker gives to the community – and what the community gives back to Oxfam Trailwalker.

“I think it’s absolutely fantastic. Any event like this is brilliant to give our community some exposure and just to show exactly what a slice of paradise it is here.

“I really do think that it’s something that is embraced and that the community is looking forward to.”

The team have started training, and living in Whakatāne, they are lucky enough to be able to train on the event’s trails. They’re also tracking along well with their fundraising thanks to some very generous local businesses.

“We all work at really cool places that have already said that they’ll sponsor us, so we’re pretty lucky in that regard.

“We want to say a massive thank you to the team at Whakatāne Outdoors, Whakatāne SPCA, and our Rural Fire and Emergency Response Units. They’ve just been great so far – it’s really nice.”

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A massive thank you to team RescueUs for their enthusiasm and support of Oxfam Trailwalker! Visit their team page or make a donation here.

Pictured, from left: Lucy Liu, June Cui, Jennifer Ma, Sophie Chen.

It was the Great Lake Relay in Taupō that brought the four members of team ‘Welly Queen’ together. They all met there in February, connected over their love of running trails, and decided to challenge themselves as a team to the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker.

The team is made up of four ladies – Sophie, Lucy, Jennifer and June – who are originally from China but who now reside in Wellington, which they call “the coolest little capital in the world.”

Sophie Chen, team leader and sales engineer, is trail-running obsessed. She challenged herself to an endurance race in Italy this September – Tor des Geants – and completed 148 kilometres and 9500 metres of elevation gain in 55 hours.

“I am a big fan of ultra-trail running. I want to help children living in poverty to have access to clean water.”

Lucy Liu, a chartered accountant, has been running regularly since 2015, this year completing the 80 kilometre Round the Mountain race in Taranaki in 11 and-a-half hours.

“Running is contagious. So is sharing! It dawned on me that regardless how little we share, we are elevating vulnerable people’s living conditions.”

Jennifer Ma, a postgrad student who first came to New Zealand in October last year, completed her first half marathon in Queenstown last year, and her first full one in Auckland this year.

“Running is who I am, what I am, why I am. I believe giving is the greatest act of grace.”

June Cui, an IT consultant, got into trail running early this year, completing a half marathon in Wellington in June.

“I know I’ll never be able to help all the people living in poverty, but by running, at least I can help some.”

Challenging themselves physically and contributing to the fight against poverty are things that the team have always wanted to do.

“We feel very fortunate to live in New Zealand, a country with stable economy and fabulous environment. We are also aware that there are still many people around the world living below the poverty line without access to clean water, basic healthcare and education.”

The girls have identified two big focuses for their team, the first being ensuring that they’re prepared for such a long distance. With a target time of 24 hours, they have been training together since November to make sure they’re physically ready to hit the trail for a full day and night.

Their second big focus is working together as a team to complete the challenge. Each team member has different levels of experience and fitness, so they are prepared to look out for and make allowances for each other in order to cross the finish line together.

The team has a big fundraising target and are determined to smash it, so they can provide as much support to people in the Pacific as possible.

“We have set the target at $5,000. None of us have any local fundraising experience in New Zealand, but we believe that our passion, planning and execution will surely help us beat the target.”

Welly Queen is hosting a CrossFit fundraiser class in Alicetown on 13 January 2018. To attend, RSVP to [email protected]. More details here.

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A big thank you to Welly Queen for their enthusiasm and dedication to Oxfam Trailwalker!

If you wish to make a donation to the team you can do so here.

Follow the team’s progress via their Facebook page here.

Another year, another scandal.

First came #LuxLeaks, then #PanamaPapers. Today, reporters all over the world are covering the Paradise Papers, based on leaked documents from yet another offshore tax firm, showing how international corporations and billionaires hide their fortunes and avoid paying taxes.

Why is Oxfam campaigning on this at all? For one simple reason — the money sitting in these tax havens could be used to fund schools, hospitals, and help people escape poverty.

Tax, poverty, inequality

This is about more than just basic fairness. This kind of tax dodging causes very real damage.

Corporate tax dodging alone costs poor countries at least $100 billion every year – enough money to provide an education for 124 million children and prevent the deaths of at least six million children.

Many of the companies and individuals involved in these scandals defend themselves by saying, “but this wasn’t illegal!”

That’s a big part of the problem.

The tax system benefits the rich

In too many places, tax codes are purposefully riddled with loopholes to benefit the wealthiest. Super-rich corporations and individuals spend millions of dollars lobbying to make sure that their fortunes stay safe.

Just look at the current tax reforms under debate right now in the United States. The plan would create new incentives for companies to stash even more funds in tax havens, starving government agencies of badly-needed funds to help the poorest. It’s Robin Hood in reverse.

The other part of the problem is the so-called “race to the bottom,” where countries take turns slashing corporate tax rates and offering incentives in a frenzied bid to attract investment.

The truth is, corporate taxes are lower than they’ve been in decades in many countries. The average rate across G20 countries was 40 percent in 1990; today, it’s less than 30.

So where do we go from here?

One thing’s clear — the “fixes” that have been tried barely scratch the surface of the problem.

The OECD and the G20 have promoted the “BEPS” tax reforms, and have managed to persuade more than 100 countries to sign on. This process though does little to prevent the use of tax havens, and limits how much poor countries can get out of the process.

Furthermore, the “blacklist” of tax havens that these two organizations published earlier this year contained just one country on it – a sharp disconnect with the real picture that scandals like this one paint.

Three key ways to End Tax Havens

Here are three things that need to happen to get to the root of the problem:

• We need a real blacklist, one based on objective, comprehensive criteria, and free from political interference. Listed countries should face stiff penalties.
• To end tax secrecy, we need transparency. Governments should make multinational companies report publicly their financial information to see where they do business and where they pay taxes.  They should also establish a publicly-available, centralized register of companies, foundations and trusts, and we should know who their real owners are. This will make it easier to follow the money.
• Finally, we need a second round of tax reforms to build on the BEPS process, but this time around, it should work in favour of all countries, and not just the wealthiest.

These changes take a lot of time and effort, but most importantly, they take political will.

Otherwise, the super-rich will keep syphoning billions of dollars away from our homes and into their offshore accounts.

Join our movement to End Tax Havens Now