From an article in the Magazine Resource, February 2007
Fairtrade has come a long way since the powdered coffee with an unmistakable aftertaste! A much wider range of high quality products is now available. Making Poverty History and other campaigns have also generated greater awareness of world development issues.
Paying a fair price to producers in developing countries has become accepted good practice rather than the preserve of hardened campaigners. In our own diocese, Northampton became a Fairtrade Town in 2006 and Wellingborough Borough Council is working towards the same goal.
Peter Hodgkinson began running a Fairtrade stall at St Peter’s Weston Favell 13 years ago. “It’s been lovely to see how the movement has taken off”, he said. “People can now buy some products from the supermarket rather than my stall, but that’s great because they are creating demand for Fairtrade.” The biggest sellers on his stall are chocolate raisins but he also recommends the Chilean wine. St Peter’s PCC signed the Fairtrade Pledge about 18 months ago and serves Fairtrade refreshments at all its events.
At the Addingtons and Woodford, Fairtrade stalls were pioneered by Oliver Stobart in 2004. He estimates that the churches made a 10% profit on £2700 turnover in 2006. They can use this for other causes, or donate it back to the Traidcraft charity that supplies the goods.
He praised the advice given by Traidcraft when he first set up the enterprise, as well as the willingness of the PCCs to contribute to a float, now repaid, to buy stock. “It is sometimes a difficult balance between ordering enough to qualify for free delivery but not overstocking on items where demand has peaked”, he said.
Churches Together in Wellingborough avoid this problem by ordering as a group. Peter and Valerie Anslow are the volunteers who run the scheme, which now extends to churches elsewhere in the county. Since they began three years ago they have rarely been out of Traidcraft’s top three independent traders. Last year their turnover was just under £20,000.
To become a Fairtrade Diocese more churches need to adopt the Fairtrade Parish Pledge. As an incentive, the first sixty parishes to do so in 2007 will receive a free box of Fairtrade goods. For more information call David Wiseman on 01604 887046 or visit: www.peterborough-diocese.org.uk/social/fairtrade.htm
For information about Traidcraft visit: www.traidcraft.co.uk |
