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Around 100 tea ladies invaded central London to highlight the Fairtrade Foundation’s campaign to swap Britain’s tea to Fairtrade during Fairtrade Fortnight (22 February – 7 March).

The dancing tea ladies, a brigade of people made up of supporters, dancers, Fairtrade licensees, and a Fairtrade tea producer from India, made their way from London Bridge to Trafalgar Square, with a stop-off at the Houses of Parliament via Number 10 Downing Street. They were wearing organic cotton tea lady outfits of Fairtrade cotton aprons and headscarves especially made by the Bishopston Trading Company and brandishing mugs and placards as they danced the conga across London Bridge. 

This year the Fairtrade Foundation is calling on tea-loving Brits to swap their favourite cuppa to Fairtrade, and will be totting up these and other Fairtrade product swaps on a special online swap-o-meter at www.thebigswap.org.uk. The Fairtrade Foundation is hoping to get people in Britain to make one million and one swaps over the two-week period and change the lives of millions of farmers in developing countries. 

The photocall was a fun way to flag up a more serious message behind the campaign which aims to tackle the poverty facing more than 14 million people in the developing world who rely on tea for a living but who are suffering from unfair trade conditions, despite sales of Fairtrade products increasing in the last year. Even though Britain is famed for being a nation of tea drinkers and a leading Fairtrade nation, still only one in ten cups of tea drunk in the UK are Fairtrade, which guarantees a set price for the farmers and workers who produce it. With most plantation workers earning just a few dollars a day and tea prices decreasing dramatically over the past few decades in real terms, 90% of farmers in the developing world are left at the mercy of fluctuating market prices meaning that for many, as prices dip, so do their standards of living.

However, the Fairtrade Foundation says people in the UK and Ireland can have a dramatic impact if they swap just one thing that they buy regularly to a Fairtrade brand.
Fairtrade is already helping 750,000 farmers, workers and their families in the tea industry. But a seismic shift is needed to help some of the most vulnerable people in the world. 

Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation says: ‘Fairtrade guarantees that small holder tea producer organisations receive a fair and stable price for their products that covers production costs and enables them to support their families. The Fairtrade premium enables tea farmers and workers to invest in a better future for themselves and their communities. Fairtrade standards for tea workers on tea plantations seek to improve their representation as well as ensure minimum social, environmental and economic standards.’

Fairtrade Fortnight is the annual nationwide campaign to promote awareness of Fairtrade and encourage people to buy products which carry the FAIRTRADE Mark. Fairtrade Fortnight unites Fairtrade supporters, bringing together retailers, manufacturers, producers and consumers.

-Ends-

Eileen Maybin
Head of Media Relations
020 7440 7686/07770 957 451
eileen.maybin@fairtrade.org.uk

Martine Julseth
Media and PR Manager
020 7440 7695/07825 827 791
martine.julseth@fairtrade.org.uk

Faith Mall
Media and PR Manager
020 7440 8597/07766 504 947
faith.mall@fairtrade.org.uk

Neil Martin
Assistant Press Officer
020 7440 7620
neil.martin@fairtrade.org.uk

Notes to Editors
* The photocall will also be a curtain raiser to the five regional Strictly Fairtrade Tea dances taking place around the country on Saturday 27 February in Birmingham, Cardiff, Dundee, London, Liverpool and Newcastle, as well as smaller events across the nations.
In London, a free public tea dance will be held in Spitalfields Market and will run from 12 noon to 5pm. From salsa to samba, from ballroom to Bollywood beats, everyone is welcome along and get movin’ in support of Fairtrade.
The programme, compered by actor/comedian James Redmond, will include dance performances and workshops representing a variety of styles and many different Fairtrade producer countries.
• London Swing Dance Society
• Kensington Dance Studio - Ballroom dance
• Threebee, Bollywood and Bhangra Beats
• Ritmo – Brazilian Dance Company
• Salsa Teen Dance Group, with Latinculture.net Salsa & Tango Classes and entertainment
• Al Zaytouna - Dabke Palestinian dance
The public can join in the free event and learn more about Fairtrade, sample and buy Fairtrade goodies at the Fairtrade market.
1. The FAIRTRADE Mark is a certification mark and a registered trademark of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) of which the Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member. The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body which licenses the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products which meet international Fairtrade standards. This independent consumer label is now recognised by 72% of UK consumers and appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than 7.5 million people – farmers, workers and their families – across 58 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system.