Fairtrade Foundation Named Runner-Up As Charity of The Year

The Fairtrade Foundation was the "highly commended" runner-up in the Charity of the Year category at The UK Charity Awards 2003 ceremony held at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London last night (Wednesday 3 September).

Hosting the ceremony, Paul O'Grady (better known as his alter ego Lily Savage) said the judges commended the Fairtrade Foundation for making Fairtrade 'a household name' and being one of the UK's most active grassroots social movements. WaterAid, which won Charity of the Year, was praised by the judges for sucessfully lobbying the UN to declare water as a human right.

"Surveys have shown that many people learn about Fairtrade by word of mouth," says Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation. "The honour of winning second place goes to all those people throughout the country who do so much to raise awareness of Fairtrade and how it improves the lives of millions of farmers and producers and their families around the world."

The gala dinner event, which was attended by more than 700 industry delegates, sector representatives, celebrities and politicians, was organised by Charity Times in association with Charity Logistics. Charity of the Year was the final in 15 categories which included Lifetime Achievement, Best New Charity and Volunteer of the Year.

The Fairtrade Foundation was nominated by the Co-operative Retail Stores. Co-op sales of Fairtrade products increased from £100,000 to £7.5m in the four years from 1998 to 2002.

Notes to Editors

1. The Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). Other countries with FLO member organisations are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA.
2. In May 2003 FLO won the prestigious King Baudouin International Prize for Development, worth £100,000, in recognition for its pioneering role in giving disadvantaged producers and workers in the developing world an opportunity to participate directly in international trade under Fairtrade conditions. The Belgium prize is one of the top ten humanitarian prizes.
3. Internationally, there are now some 360 registered producer groups in 45 countries, representing some 4.5 million producers and their families, selling their goods under Fairtrade terms, through over 600 traders across 17 consumer countries.