April 2023

Monthly News and Updates April 2023

Neighbourhood Circle Nights coming to Melbourne

Exciting news - During August and September “Neighbourhood Circle Nights” are coming to Melbourne.

Moral Fairground in collaboration with the Neighbourhood Circle will be generating a series of weekly evening pop-up events every Thursday night commencing the 10th of August to the 28th of September 2023 as part of the City of Melbourne winter Dusk till Dawn Activation Program.

The Neighbourhood Circle is a community-led action group working together to revitalise a rapidly transforming part of the CBD, to discover and reimagine new ways to live, work and play in this area. It is located in the Turning Circle Precinct in Melbourne CBD, bound by Collins, Queen, William Streets, and the Yarra River.

The series of events will include weekly pop-up markets and events, digital stories, walking tours, cultural activations and engagement with local businesses. The pop-up markets will feature a series of curated market stalls selling a range of high quality items, ranging from art, fashion, beauty and crafts. Food, live performances and a range of other activities including exhibitions, talks, panels and more will also be part of the activation

Be part of the excitement

We are now accepting expressions of interest to be part of the pop-up markets.

Vendors will be able to sell products or services
Reach hundreds of visitors including local residents and workers and festival goers.
Be part of this exciting community-led initiatives
Reach new customers
Generate sales and leads
Be part of one or all eights events

Applications close at the end of June, so get in early to secure your spot. To be considered please apply here, a range of options are available.

APPLY HERE

COMING UP

FAIR TRADE PRODUCER TOUR MEET UP

Book yourself into this free session. Antonia Taylor, Founder of Fair Space, and Susanna Bevilacqua, Founder of Moral Fairground who will speak about the Fair Trade Producer Tour planned for August 2023.

Zoom along and see how you might be able to support or be involved; this will provide a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of the fair trade movement and its role globally. HERE

WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY

World Fair Trade Day is on Saturday, 13th of May this year; check out the World Fair Trade Organisation Social media page to see what is happening globally, but why not take the lead and do something to honour this day in your backyard? Visit one of your local fair trade shops or host a fair trade party; get creative!!! Contact the Fair Trade Association.

Call out for Indigenous youth to design and participate in the The GLOBAL INDIGENOUS YOUTH SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE (GIYSCC).

The summit being convened by, for and among Indigenous youth (in contrast to Elders), who will participate in designing the agenda and invite the participants from three 8-hour time zones, in a 24-hour period, on 9th August 2023 (United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples).

This is a great opportunity for any young Indigenous person in Australia to have a voice, NEXT MEETING ON 16 May 2023 at 13:30-15:00 GMT: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/2049363364.

OUT AND ABOUT

The best thing that Moral Fairground enables is the opportunity to meet interesting and amazing people. We love digging deep and discovering what drives people's passions, the reason to be and do.

I had a delicious coffee and met up with Valerie Deneen, Head of Social Enterprise at SisterWorks Inc., at their new retail and coffee space at 102A Bridge Road in Richmond. This a good reminder that Mothers' Day is coming up, and Sisterworks has a wealth of handmade and crafted gifts that will make any mum happy and support local micro-producers. You can buy everything online- but if you are like me, nothing is better than trying on, feeling and touching what you are buying.

Here is a person I had not seen for a while. Cynthia Cheong was on the Executive Committee of the Fair Trade Association ANZ not long ago. It was good to pick her brain and reconnect with supporters of the Fair Trade Community in Melbourne.

I am looking forward to gathering a few others for a reunion.

Adrian Soh has been a supporter of Moral Fairground for a while now; what an interesting conversation with someone that has a PhD in Economics, has in-depth experience in strategic marketing and also runs a creative business; you would not think that economics and creativity might go together, but this is what is impressive about people, what they do and what makes them click!!

Being invited to the re-launch of the Youth Project Living Room on Hosier Lane was an honour. Melanie Raymond, the Chair of Youth Projects, had dedicated 23 years towards supporting homeless and disadvantaged youth across Melbourne. The Living Room is a free medical clinic for homeless people in CBD. A good reminder that winter is coming up, and people that do not have a roof over their heads will need something warm to keep them going through the winter.