SLF Grandmother Regional Liaison Update Report Summer 2014

Recorded by Sally Gellard

Merville Grand Mothers

• Exciting News from Australia: The SLF will have a strong presence at the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne this July 25 – The premier screening of the Tribunal Film will happen there. Several SLF staffers will meet with potential grandmother groups in Melbourne where there is a lot of interest in joining our Movement.

• The Tribunal Film: The film (not yet named) will come to the West Coast in November for showings in Vancouver and Victoria. At this time, it has been planned that another showing will take place at the Fall 2015 Island Gathering.

1. Sponsorship: A committee of grandmothers is putting together a 2-4 page booklet to advise groups across the country about relationships with organizations who want to co-sponsor SLF grandmother events. If you and your group have had experience with sponsorship and wish to share your insights, contributions to this conversation are very welcome. Contact Gerri at ___________________.

• Anti-spam Legislation: GM groups do not fall under this so we do not need to do anything different with our websites or emails. (fund-raising and NGO are exempt)

• The Grandmother Book: This project is still in the works – Joanna is working on it over the summer. Coming soon will be a Town Hall phone line meeting moderated for Q & A – a good chance to hear about the Book – you will be invited to participate directly from SLF.

• Sales of Merchandise from Hillcrest: There has been a lot of discussion about importing crafts and goods from Hillcrest for sale at our markets. Is there any interest from Islands groups to coordinate shipments through Imagine (a distributer who makes it easy)? If interested contact our SLF rep Yasmin.

• Communication with SLF: The SLF office would like to have an updated grandmother list from each group within each region. The Gran Bulletin & Grassroots would then be sent directly to each member on our member list. (Presently I think a lot of groups have a SLF contact person who forwards the Bulletin to each member) The SLF office is asking for names, email, mailing address, phone numbers, if agreeable. We have been reassured that this list will not be used for solicitation and will not be posted or shared – and it will be easy to unsubscribe. Also any individual donations from a member will be attributed to the GM group she belongs to.

• Speakers Bureau: The committee working on this is close to completion – and it will be launched on the SLF website – members only page – this summer.