About Fairtrade Towns
Why become a Fairtrade Town?
By choosing to support Fairtrade, your community can add it’s voice to demands for a trade system that puts people, not profit, at the heart of the transaction. Our voices become louder when we speak together.
Working towards Fairtrade Town status will bring together neighbours, groups, the local authority and businesses towards a common goal and a shared achievement. Becoming a Fairtrade Town is a lot of work, good fun and a great way to bring people together. It will also be an achievement everyone can celebrate and a powerful message about how your community wants trade to work.
What is a Fairtrade Town?
 |
A Fairtrade Town is a town, city, village, county, zone, island or borough that has made a commitment to supporting Fairtrade and using products with the FAIRTRADE Mark. Any area can work towards Fairtrade status and everyone needs to be involved!
Community organisations, faith groups, businesses, schools and individuals all contribute to making their area a Fairtrade Town by pledging to do what they can to support Fairtrade and promote the FAIRTRADE Mark. |
Declared Fairtrade Towns
Towns working towards status
History
In April 2000, Garstang in Lancashire declared itself ‘the Worlds first Fairtrade Town’. The campaign caught the imagination of local people, the interest of politicians, and made headlines across the North West. Most importantly, the campaign in Garstang inspired towns, cities, boroughs, villages, islands, counties and zones across the country to make a collective commitment to Fairtrade and work towards Fairtrade status for their community.
There are now over 400 Fairtrade Towns as well as more than 200 areas campaigning towards status. The phenomenon has not stopped at the border. There are now Fairtrade Town campaigns in 17 countries around the world and all of these have been inspired by the example in the UK. Visit the International Fairtrade Towns website to find out more.
Read an independent evaluation of the impact of Fairtrade Towns (PDF)
 |
The Fairtrade Towns campaign is co-financed by a grant from the European Union.
The contents of this site are the sole responsibility of the Fairtrade Foundation and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.
|