The Gedling Fairtrade Group ran a Fairtrade stall at the Gedling Show on Sunday 31st August.

The Co-operative, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Morrison’s donated some of the Fairtrade items they currently have on sale: tea, coffee, drinking chocolate, chocolate, sugar, rice, honey, jam, biscuits, wine, oranges, pineapple, apples, pears, bananas, mango, T-shirts.  We were able to make an impressive display which attracted a lot of attention and gave us the chance to talk to members of the public about Fairtrade in general and what is available to local people doing their weekly shop.

We had a short questionnaire asking how much each person knew about Fairtrade  and whether they regularly purchase Fairtrade goods.  We completed 70 questionnaires during the day.  Since we usually talked to couples or to family groups, we talked to more than 200 people during the show.  At the end of the day, from the box of completed questionnaires, we pulled out two and shared the goods on display between them.  The winners were Cheryl Jones of Basford and Linda Gallagher of Carlton, who were delighted to receive their prizes.

The results showed that most people recognise the Fairtrade Mark and an increasing number are buying Fairtrade goods regularly.  86% of people recognised the Mark and most were aware of the meaning of Fairtrade.   More than half could think of between two and five Fairtrade items and more than a quarter mentioned six or more.  28% bought one Fairtrade item regularly (usually tea, coffee, chocolate or bananas), 37% bought between two and five items and 9% bought more than five items regularly.

Spotting the Mayor of Gedling, Councillor Richard Goodwin, on a tour of the Craft tent, one of our volunteers seized the chance to go through the questionnaire with him.  We were delighted to discover that he buys between two and five Fairtrade items on a regular basis, setting an excellent example to the residents of Gedling Borough!