On Sunday 20th June the Gedling Fairtrade group had a stall at the Arnold Carnival.  Vicky and Allan arrived in time to get everything set up by 11am.  Vicky had organised an attractive display on Fairtrade in Gedling Borough and had produced a leaflet listing all the local Fairtrade outlets.  David had produced a short Fairtrade quiz.  It had photos of 5 pairs of items and people had to say which of each pair was Fairtrade.  Between us we made pretty sure that nobody could get the answers wrong!  People then gave their names and a contact number, which went into a draw for the bag of Co-operative Fairtrade goods displayed on the stall.

Vicky and Allan talked to visitors until one o’clock.  Then Rachel and Ash took over until 4pm. Vicky and Allan came back to round off the afternoon and pack up at 5pm.

There were 78 entries for the draw.  We tended to talk to family groups so we must have talked to about 200 people altogether during the day.  Most people were very responsive but it wasn’t all plain sailing.  We had the usual question ‘But does the money really get to the people who need it?’   We did our best to explain how the Fairtrade system works, through co-operatives and individual farmers, to ensure small farmers really do get a better return for their crop.  Another visitor told us that, if farmers got a low price for their product, then that was business and they had nothing to complain about!  If they wanted change, they had governments who should do something about it.  Vicky and Allan explained they felt that we, as consumers, have a moral responsibility to avoid exploitation and pay a decent price for goods from the developing world.  We failed to persuade him but at least we had the chance to talk to him about the issue.

Another advantage of the day was that we got 25 people to sign up for our planned e-mail newsletter, helping to spread support for Fairtrade across the Borough.

Tuesday 22nd was a happy day for Taran and Maya, who live near the centre of Arnold; Allan rang up to tell them they had won the draw.  He offered to deliver the bag of Fairtrade goods on Wednesday at 4pm but it appears there was an important football match on at that time.  The handover was therefore delayed until Thursday.  The photo shows Taran and Maya with their prize.

Our grateful thanks are due to the organisers of the Arnold Carnival and especially to the employees of the Council, who are always efficient, helpful and friendly.

In the run up to the election we asked the Gedling candidates where they stand on Fairtrade.

Here is the e-mail sent by David on behalf of the Gedling Fairtrade Group with candidates’ responses below (copied exactly as written)…

I am writing to you on behalf of the Gedling Fairtrade Group in the run up to the general election to find out your views on Fairtrade. We have recently (Feb 2010) managed to gain Fairtrade status for Gedling Borough by reaching the Fairtrade Foundation’s criteria of numbers of shops, cafes, businesses, restaurants and community groups using or selling Fairtrade goods.

I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions:

1. Do you agree with the principles of Fairtrade and if so can you tell us what you personally have done and currently do to support Fairtrade?

2. If you were elected would you be prepared to support our group to maintain Fairtrade status (we need to meet the criteria each year)?

3. What do you think that the next government needs to do to ensure that Trade is fair and meets the need of poor producers in developing countries as well as consumers in the UK and EU?

Please do visit our local website for information about Fairtrade in Gedling – http://fairtradegedling.org.uk/ . We will put your replies on our website so that our supporters can see them.

Response from Bruce Laughton – Conservative

Hi David I helped Bishop Ronald and my Auntie Val make Southwell the first Free Trade Town in Notts my County Council ward and introduced it into Notts County Council. Action speaks louder than words. Thanks. For contact. Bruce

Response from Julia Bateman – Liberal Democrats

Thank you very much for your email regarding Fairtrade.  I think it impressive that as a group in the community you have been committed to gaining Fairtrade status for Gedling Borough by reaching the Fairtrade Foundation’s criteria of numbers of shops, cafes, businesses, restaurants and community groups using or selling Fairtrade goods.

I recently responded to the Fairtrade “one simple question” campaign with a resounding yes, that if elected as MP for Gedling on May 6th, I would  support the continued growth of Fairtrade in the UK.   I agree with the principles of Fairtrade and try do my small part such as purchase Fairtrade goods in supermarkets (such as the Co-op)  particulary coffee.  I know it doesn’t sound much but every little helps. I would try to keep in mind what shops, cafes, restaurants have the status and choose accordingly.

If elected I would be pleased to work hard with and support your group to maintain Fairtrade status  in the Borough. (we need to meet the criteria each year)?  I would like to see you have a celebration day in March next year because you have retained your status. I would like to help you in any event after the election period.

As you will know, global fair trade sales have grown rapidly over the past decade, reaching €2.4bn in 2007, 47 percent more than the year before and it is estimated that 7.5 million people benefit directly from fair trade prices. Local governments in Europe and North America have used their procurement policy to purchase fair-trade-labelled products, though central governments (including the UK’s) remain more cautious, largely because of concern about the interaction with WTO and EU rules.

While Liberal Democrats continue to support the growth of the fair trade movement, we also want to break down the underlying barriers to trade and promote sustainable trade and investment in developing countries by:

• Working through the European Union and World Trade Organisation to seek to remove the subsidies and tariff barriers that prevent the poorest countries in the world selling their goods on fair terms and promote environmentally sustainable trade.
• Working to end the dumping of subsidised agricultural exports by developed economies, which is undermining farming in Africa and other parts of the world.
• Requiring companies benefiting from open markets to behave responsibly and adhere to OECD guidelines. We will also promote a new international agreement to encourage investment, particularly in the poorest countries.
• Increasing opportunities in richer countries for sustainable products from developing nations.

Thank you again for taking the time to get in contact with me on this important issue. Please do publish this response on your site or I am happy for you to forward it to your members.

Kind regards
Julia

Response from Vernon Coaker – Labour

Thank you for your email.  I fully support Fairtrade, as I have always done.
Vernon

Response from Dave Marshall – UKIP

Hi, thank you for your email regardind Fairtrade. I do agree with the principle of fairtrade and i have swapped some of my purchases accordingly. I would also be delighted to support the work you have been doing to get a fairer price for poorer farmers, although we need to ensure that the monies go to the farmers and not the respective governments or regimes. Keep up the good work!!

Stephen Adcock – BNP

Unfortunately we were not able to find an e-mail address for the BNP candidate. If anyone knows his work (not private) e-mail address please forward it to us so that we can ask for his response to the same e-mail.

On Thursday 4th March we were very pleased to hold a celebration event to mark Gedling Borough gaining Fairtrade status and to thank everyone who have supported our campaign.

Special thanks go to all of the suppliers and supporters within Gedling Borough who sell or use Fairtrade in their shop, cafe, workplace, school, community group or place of worship.

Joining us at the celebration were the Mayor, the Lady Mayoress, councillors from the Borough and local suppliers and supporter as well as pupils and parents from Killisick Junior School who have been very supportive.

ASDA, Sainsbury’s, The Cooperative and Gedling Borough Council all provided donations to help us host this exciting event and provide Fairtrade wine and juice for guests to sample. Christie Picture Framing & Gallery very kindly framed our Fairtrade Borough certificate free of charge and this will be placed on display in the Gedling Civic Centre.

During the evening prizes were awarded to pupils from Killisick Junior School who were winners of our Fairtrade ‘The Big Swap’ poster competition. Winners were Michael Shaw, Chloe Bonnar, Ariya Shadamani, Kyra Holehouse, Holly Stevenson and Abbie Webb:

Here are the winning posters and many of the other fantastic entries:

Take a look at our videos below to see speeches from the night.

Although Gedling Borough has Fairtrade status there is still a lot of work to do. Please do get in touch if you would like to get involved.

Fairtrade Fortnight will be here very soon and activities are taking place up and down the country to celebrate and raise awareness for Fairtrade produce.

Swap to Fairtrade

This year’s Fairtrade Fornight theme is ‘The Big Swap‘ so between 22nd February and 7th March we’ll be encouraging the people of Gedling to swap their ordinary shopping items for Fairtrade ones.

Come along to our display in Gedling Civic Centre during the fortnight and pick up some free Fairtrade tea to try and find out where you can buy Fairtrade goodies in the borough.

Schools’ Poster Competition

We are also organising a poster competition with the big swap theme for local infant and junior schools. Winners will be chosen at the end of February and prizes will be awarded by the Mayor of Gedling at our celebration event.

If you would like to know more about our poster competition for schools please contact us.

Our Fairtrade Celebration

This year’s Fairtrade Fortnight is particularly exciting for us because Gedling Borough has now met the criteria to become a Fairtrade Town!

On 4th March we will be holding a celebration event to mark the occassion and to say thank you to all of our supporters. Invitations will be coming to supporters shortly but if your business, organisation, school or place of worship sells or uses Fairtrade produce and we do not already know about you (please see our directory and supporters pages) then please get in touch.

Tell us about your events

If you are holding an event during Fairtrade Fortnight then please tell us about it and we will post it here on our website!

The next Gedling Fairtrade Group meeting will be on Monday 24th August at 7.30pm at Gedling Civic Centre.

We’re very close to achieving Fairtrade Town status and just need a little more help to get there. More than anything we need group members who could give some of their time to help us raise awareness of Fairtrade in the borough.

So, if you would like to get involved or just to find out more, do come along to the meeting.

If you have any queries or comments then please get in touch.

See below for a map to the venue.
Visit the Gedling Borough Council website for bus routes and directions.

View Larger Map

Congratulations to the Smith family who won a selection of lovely Fairtrade goodies from our fun Fairtrade quiz!

Pictured above are: Lyndsay, Philip, Matthew, Tania, Tyler, Steven and Jacqueline.

For the quiz we asked participants to identify the Fairtrade product from a pair of six possible options. We hope the Smith family enjoyed their winnings!

We had a great day overall and talked to around 250 – 300 people at our stall. Many of the folks we chatted to were aware of Fairtrade and make a habit of buying goods showing the Fairtrade mark in their grocery shopping. So well done people of Gedling! There were 150 competition entries in total.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello and took part in our quiz!

The Gedling Fairtrade Group will be at Arnold Carnival again this year with a stall full of Fairtrade goodies and a chance to win them with our guessing game.

The carnival takes place on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st June at Arnot Hill Park, Arnold, Nottingham. We’ll be there on Sunday in the craft marquee so come along and say hello. If you’d like to give a helping hand on the day then do get in touch.

Other attractions at the show include live bands and entertainment, arts and crafts workshops, sports, a fun fair, food and drink and lots lots more!

Check out the Arnold Carnival 2009 programme

The next Gedling Fairtrade Group meeting will be on Monday 11th May at 7.30pm at Gedling Civic Centre.

If you would like to get involved or just to find out more, do come along to the meeting.

If you have any queries or comments then please get in touch.

See below for a map to the venue.
Visit the Gedling Borough Council website for bus routes and directions.

View Larger Map

The Fairtrade Fashion Show held during Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 was a great success and enjoyed by all.

Here are some photographs from the evening:

The Gedling Fairtrade Group Display

The Redhill School swing band.

Fashion models showing the beautiful Fairtrade clothes

Lovely clothes and accessories on sale at the event – supplied by Fair2All

Yummy cakes, cookies and flapjacks for sale made with Fairtrade ingredients

Oxfam volunteers and stall selling gorgeous Fairtrade jewellery

Traidcraft stall selling Fairtrade food, chocolates and gifts.

Gedling Fairtrade Group would like to thank the following for their support and participation:

Students and Staff of Redhill School
Mandy Macintosh of Fair2All
The Cooperative
Students from Nottingham Trent University’s School of Art and Design
All of our volunteer models and helpers
Traidcraft
Oxfam
Harrison’s Cafe & Bistro
The Health Store in Mapperley
Petina

To celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 the Gedling Fairtrade Group are holding a fabulous Fairtrade fashion show.

The show takes place on Wednesday 4th March at Redhill Comprehensive School. Doors open at 7.30pm and start time is 8.00pm

You can pay on the door or buy tickets from various local outlets at £2 for adults and £1 for concessions. The outlets are:

• The Health Store, 21 Plains Road, Mapperley
• Oxfam, Front Street, Arnold
• Harrison’s Cafe and Bistro, Main Street, Gedling
• Redhill School, Redhill Road Arnold.

Come along and see the beautiful Fairtrade clothing with a chance to buy after the show! Browse the Fairtrade stalls and enjoy the live music too.

Please note that cash only will be accepted on the night.

If you would like to help spread the word about the fashion show please feel free to download our poster to display in your building or pass on to friends.
Download the Fairtrade Fashion Show poster

We will look forward to seeing you there!

This event is being sponsored by The Cooperative.