Fairtrade Spreads Across The Nation As Over 250 Towns Say 'Change today. Choose Fairtrade'

Around ten thousand local events are expected to take place across the country over the next two weeks urging consumers to Change Today.Choose Fairtrade – the theme of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight (26 February to March 11).

Many of these will be in the network of Fairtrade towns, cities, boroughs, counties, islands and zones which crisscrosses the country. The number of towns with Fairtrade status will reach more than 250 by the end of Fairtrade Fortnight – last year the number was 150. To see which towns in your region are included please check http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved_fairtrade_towns.htm. A further 200 places in the UK have also registered local campaigns, but have not yet met the goals required to become a Fairtrade Town.

The events taking place include Fairtrade fashion shows and football matches, breakfasts and banquets, tea dances and supermarket tastings. For events in your region go to www.fairtrade.org.uk and just click on the events button – the calendar is searchable by region and by date.

2007 also marks the 200th anniversary of the Slave Abolition Act in the UK, and this year some Fairtrade campaigns are organising special events, seeing current Fairtrade campaigning as part of a long tradition in the campaign for justice in international trade and the right of people to earn a dignified living from their work. The 19th century abolitiionists’ message: “It is simply immoral that people should be allowed to suffer in order to provide us with luxuries such as tea, coffee and sugar,” still rings true today. From Slave Trade to Fairtrade - an exhibition of children’s art and poetry in Bolton – is one such event. The children’s pictures and words will push home the need there still is for farmers in the world’s poorest countries to receive a fair price for what they grow. They will also highlight that the FAIRTRADE Mark guarantees that fair deal for more than a million farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Announcing the exhibition, Jim Hollyman, Fairtrade Co-ordinator for Bolton, said: “Though slavery has officially been abolished, it still exists in our world in many forms. This year Fairtrade Fortnight gives us an opportunity to see how Fairtrade is helping people who are shackled by unjust trade rules, to break those chains of injustice. Every time we buy a product which carries the FAIRTRADE Mark we are breaking one of those chains.”

Bolton is joined in its message by Hull – the home to William Wilberforce who tirelessly but successfully fought for the abolition of slavery - with businessmen and women, a local MP and the University taking part in an action-packed schedule of events during Fairtrade Fortnight showing Fairtrade as a modern day antidote to poverty and trade inequality. Other towns will be putting on their own events with the same message. In Kent a local company has even brewed a commemorative draught beer ‘William Wilberforce Freedom Ale’ to be launched during Fairtrade Fortnight and which will be available in pubs, clubs and restaurants in Kent, Surrey, Sussex and South London.
In the same way that the anti-slavery movement spread at individual and community levels to achieve a far-reaching impact on the lives of some of the world’s most disadvantaged people, Fairtrade Fortnight demonstrates the continued growth of support for Fairtrade in the UK (52% of the UK population now recognise the FAIRTRADE Mark) and the lasting benefits that Fairtrade is bringing to farmers and workers in the developing world.

The Fairtrade Towns campaign was established in 2001.To achieve Fairtrade status local communities need to make a substantial commitment to the promotion and use of Fairtrade goods, both at local authority level and in shops and businesses (see Notes for full details). The success of the Fairtrade Towns network has this year led to the development of similar initiatives in Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, the USA and Australia.

The network was pioneered by Bruce Crowther, the Foundation’s Fairtrade Towns Co-ordinator. He clearly sees the parallels between the two human rights movements: “Anti-slavery campaigners in the eighteenth century boycotted sugar produced by slaves, and it was actions such as this, at community level, that supported the movement to end slavery. Today Fairtrade Fortnight, and the activity and achievements of the Fairtrade Towns, highlight that the British public are still able to use their buying power to make a difference to lives of producers in developing countries and re-dress the balance of an unfair international system of trade, by supporting Fairtrade and buying products which carry the FAIRTRADE Mark.”

As well 100 new Fairtrade Towns in the last 12 months, there has been huge growth in the numbers of other Fairtrade campaigning networks in the UK. There are now 49 Fairtrade Universities reaching out to students, 3,100 Fairtrade churches and 33 Fairtrade synagogues are now in place, with plans to work with other faith communities in the coming months. Fairtrade Town steering groups in many other locations are also working hard to get their own communities awarded Fairtrade status.

Many towns are planning a varied mix of events. Woking in Surrey, which has been a Fairtrade Town since October 2006 is hosting a Question Time-style debate with a panel of leading economists and Fairtrade executives will be taking place during Fortnight. An illustrious panel including Professor Philip Booth from the Institute of Economic Affairs, Evan Davis, Economics Editor for the BBC, Paul Chandler, Chief Executive of Traidcraft and David Woodward of the New Economics Foundation will consider the question: “Is Free Trade for those with a head and Fairtrade for those with a heart?”

Another interesting event takes place at The Light shopping Centre in Leeds which will be converted to Fairtrade for a morning on 2 March. Here the Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, will make a speech about the importance of Fairtrade. With music from around the world, competitions to win Fairtrade prizes and shops in the centre providing free Fairtrade samples, the event will give a real boost to Fairtrade awareness.

Towns declaring Fairtrade Status during the Fortnight include Gateshead, Bath, Watford, Alnwick, Oundle, Ulverston, Wells-next-to-the-Sea, Newry in Northern Ireland, the Scottish county of Ayrshire and the London Borough of Sutton.

Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn said: "It's been another great year for the Fairtrade Foundation which now certifies more than 2,500 products ranging from coffee and beer to fruit and footballs. Consumers can be assured that with sales of nearly £300 million, farmers and producers in poor parts of the world are getting a fairer price for their hard work. It is also now time for world leaders to make sure the Doha trade talks succeed in changing the system so millions of poor people can lift themselves out of poverty forever."
Sales of products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark were worth £290m in 2006, an increase of 46% over the past year. There are more than 2,500 products now available which carry the FAIRTRADE Mark. All major supermarket chains now sell Fairtrade products together with many smaller stores and catering operations.

Notes to Editor
For more information please contact Margaret Rooke or Martine Julseth at the Fairtrade Foundation at margaret.rooke@fairtrade.org.uk; or martine.julseth@fairtrade.org.uk; or call 020 7440 7695.

1. The FAIRTRADE Mark is an independent consumer label which appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than 5 million people - farmers, workers and their families - across 58 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system. The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body that awards the FAIRTRADE Mark to products that meet international Fairtrade standards. Over 2,000 products in shops, cafés and the catering sector now carry the FAIRTRADE Mark in the UK including coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, snacks and biscuits, sugar, nuts, honey, fruit juices and smoothies, fresh fruit, wine, flowers, footballs and cotton. To find out more visit www.fairtrade.org.uk

2. Towns, Cities, Villages, Islands, Boroughs, Counties and Zones can achieve Fairtrade status by meeting five goals set by the Fairtrade Foundation. For simplicity all these places are referred to as Fairtrade Towns. The five goals to achieve Fairtrade Town status are: the local council passes a resolution supporting Fairtrade and agrees to serve Fairtrade coffee and tea at its meetings and in its offices and canteens; a range of Fairtrade products is readily available in the area’s shops and catering establishments; Fairtrade products are used by a number of local work places and community organisations (churches, schools etc); media coverage and popular support is encouraged for the campaign; and a local Fairtrade Steering Group is convened to ensure commitment to Fairtrade Town status. To find out more about Fairtrade Towns see www.fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved_fairtrade_towns.htm

3. The Fairtrade Foundation was set up in 1992 by agencies including Cafod, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Traidcraft and the World Development Movement to respond to the human consequences of collapsing world commodity prices by establishing an independent Fairtrade product certification label.

The Fairtrade Foundation,
Room 204, 16 Baldwin’s Gardens,
London EC1N 7RJ.

Tel: 020 7405 5942
Fax: 020 7405 5943
Web: www.fairtrade.org.uk