This summer we have been trying hard to bring the Fairtrade message to as many Gedling residents as possible.  We have never had a stall in Gedling Village so we decided to apply for an information stall at the Gedling Gala on Saturday 3rd July.  We had a great day!

David and Allan turned up at 11.15 to put up the gazebo and set up the stall.  We repeated what we had done at the Arnold Carnival in June.  We had a display of Fairtrade in Gedling Borough, a leaflet listing suppliers, the quiz and the draw, lots of leaflets and a plate of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate to attract the punters.  Surprising how many people didn’t realise Dairy Milk is now Fairtrade!  Our prize of a bag of Co-operative Fairtrade goods included a donation in kind from the Co-operative in Gedling Road, for which we were most grateful.

Vicky was not able to help out – something about a wedding, she said.  David was involved in a tennis tournament that had been brought forward and had to leave at 12; his wife, Sally, stepped in to complete the morning session.  Ash and Christine looked after the stall in the afternoon, with Allan coming back from a quick sandwich to support.  We could do with a few more recruits to help out on such occasions!

We had a really successful day.  We were in a line of stalls near the Willow Lane entrance and so had a chance to talk to lots of people as they came in or out.  The music coming from just opposite us didn’t stop us talking as much as we could!  By the time we packed up at 4.30pm we had a total of 83 entries for our draw.  So, talking to family groups again, we must have discussed Fairtrade with more than 200 people.  22 people gave us e-mail addresses to receive our planned e-mail newsletter.  We even discovered a local resident whose uncle is a director of the Fairtrade Foundation!  Amazing what you discover when you talk to people on the ground!

The winner of the Fairtrade goods was Mrs. Marshall of Bulwell who had come to Gedling to visit her niece.

Our thanks must go to the Gedling Gala committee for giving us this excellent chance to talk to so many local residents.

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.

We have some fantastic news. Gedling borough has officially now been given Fairtrade Town status by the Fairtrade Foundation!

We are very pleased to have achieved this status and thank all of the Fairtrade suppliers and supporters in Gedling who contributed to making this happen.

There is still a lot of work to do though, raising awareness about Fairtrade in the borough and encouranging more shops to sell Fairtrade goods and more shoppers to buy them!

If you have some time to help us then we’d love to meet you. Come along to our next meeting on 17th February or please get in touch to find out more.

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!

Come along to our next Fairtrade Group meeting on Wednesday 17th February, 7.30pm at Gedling Civic Centre.

We’ll be making final plans for Fairtrade Fortnight (22nd Feb – 7th Mar) so maybe you could lend a hand or let us know your ideas.

If you’d like to find out more before coming to a meeting please contact us.

Yippee! We have now met the criteria for Fairtrade Town status and our application is being processed as I type.

This means lots more to do in 2010, starting with Fairtrade Fortnight, when we’ll be holding a celebration event for our supporters and a competition for local schools to create a Fairtrade poster.

Throughout the year we’ll be working hard to continue to raise awareness of Fairtrade in our borough and looking for even more supporters and suppliers to add to our directory.

If you know of any shops, cafes, businesses, organisations, schools or places of worship in Gedling borough that either sells or uses Fairtrade goods then please let us know. We’d love to say thank you to them and promote them here on our website.

Come along to our next meeting on Thursday 21st January, 7.30pm at Gedling Civic Centre, Arnold, Nottingham, NG5 6LU to find out more about our campaign, share your ideas and get involved.

The next Gedling Fairtrade Group meeting will be on Thursday 10th December 2009, 7.30 at Gedling Civic Centre.

At this meeting we will be making plans ready for our Fairtrade Town application and events during Fairtrade Fortnight in Feb / March 2009. We’d love your help and support. You don’t have to commit right away if you’d prefer to find out more first. To see the kinds of things we do please see our ‘Gedling Fairtrade Group Needs You!’ post.

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

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

The next Gedling Fairtrade Group meeting will be on Wednesday 21st October, 7.30 at Gedling Civic Centre.

The group really needs to expand its members so that we can organise more activities and continue to gain support for Fairtrade. Do come along and meet us. You don’t have to commit right away if you’d prefer to find out more first. To see the kinds of things we do please see our ‘Gedling Fairtrade Group Needs You!’ post.

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

View Larger Map

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