The Fairtrade Yorkshire Regional Conference took place last weekend and was the best-attended Fairtrade Yorkshire event so far. Campaigners were buoyed by the announcement of two new towns campaigning for Fairtrade status: Selby and Halifax. Over 70 supporters including both of York’s MPs as well as MEP Linda McAvan.

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Chair of the Town Council, John Garvani and the Steering Group

On 18th September Horsforth celebrated its declaration as a Fairtrade Town with a party at St. Margaret’s Parish Centre.  Chair of Fairtrade Yorkshire, Hannah Langdana, introduced a cocoa game and FTY Coordinator, Mark Dawson congratulated the town stating that ‘ a Fairtrade Horsforth is a stronger Horsforth.’  Chair of the Fairtrade Steering Group, Rev Matt Wright, of Lister Hill Baptist, gave a rousing speech thanking all the people who had made Horsforth Fairtrade Town possible including local schools and the Town Council.  The Chair of the Town Council cut the huge celebratory cake and a buffet was enjoyed courtesy of Morrisons supermarket.

Rev Matt Wright, John Garvani and Cllr. Janice Pritlove outside St. Margaret’s Parish Centre.

Chair of the Town Council, John Garvani cuts the cake

Matthew Temple, Duty Manager and Sarah Marston, Community Champion of Horsforth Morrisons.

Skipton has renewed its Fairtrade Town status and taken on the 90kg rice challenge. Your community could do the same! The challenge is to sell 90kg of fairly traded brown and/or white rice – the amount of rice sold that would enable a Malawian farmer pay for a year’s basic secondary education for one child in Malawi, where only 1 in 3 children can go to high school because their parents can’t afford to send them.

Read more about the rice challenge.

Thanks to your support, over 1.5 million farmers and workers in 74 countries are now part of Fairtrade – which stands for changing the way trade works, through fair prices and better working conditions, to offer a more stable future for farming communities.

Together we’ve made great progress – but we need to go further. We need your help.
The interests and livelihoods of many Fairtrade farmers and workers, and many more outside of Fairtrade, continue to be undermined by unfair subsidies, unreasonable regulations, self-interested trade tariffs and one-sided trade deals – supported by the UK government. These deals prop up British and European interests, but they often do little for – and sometimes actively harm – poor farmers and workers. They block them from building up their businesses, force them out of markets and leave them unable to sell their produce.
This September, UK Prime Minister David Cameron will take to the global stage at the UN, backing new targets to end global poverty and reduce inequality, known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The government is keen to show trade as a way for poor countries to tackle poverty – and as we know, the right kind of trade is a powerful way to lift people out of poverty.
The SDGs are a unique opportunity to call for fairer, more sustainable trade. Otherwise, it’s a case of giving with one hand and taking with the other.
We need government rhetoric to be backed by reality. We need the poor to come first in trade. It is only by doing this that trade will improve lives and livelihoods in a truly sustainable way.
Please ask your MP to raise this issue with the Prime Minister and demand he acts now to make trade fair.

More details: show your hand campaign

A ten strong delegation from Yorkshire attended the International Fair Trade Towns conference in Bristol (3rd-5th July).

Yorkshire delegates in front of the conference logo display created by Holmfirth’s ‘Fair and Funky.’

Representatives from Fair Trade towns attended from across Europe, Africa, Latin America, North America and Asia.

There are currently 1647 Fair Trade Towns in 27 countries but thousands more are working towards Fair Trade status, for example the Yorkshire contingent met with Mayors from the Lebanon.  Fair Trade Lebanon are planning for the declaration of 10 Fair Trade Towns within the next year.

The founding father of the Fair Trade Towns movement, Bruce Crowther reminded the conference attendees of the humble origins of the initiative.  The first meeting to plan the campaign for the world’s first Fair Trade Town was attended by just three people, Bruce, his wife and their babysitter.

The Fair Trade Town concept was an idea whose time had come and there has been rapid expansion in recent years.  The vibrancy of the conference, attended by more than 250 delegates attested to the enthusiasm for linking communities across the globe.

Ashraf Hamad, from York St. John University chats to Sam Chaher of Fairtrade Reading.

Speakers at the conference included:

Yorkshire MEP, Linda McAvan, who is the Chair of the European Parliament International Development Committee.

Fatima Ismael of Soppexcca Cooperative, Nicaragua

Harriet Lamb, CEO of Fairtrade International

Hazel Culley from Marks and Spencer.

Joanna Pollard, from Selby, and chair of the British Association of Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) lead a discussion for Fair Trade retailers and Mark Dawson, coordinator of Fairtrade Yorkshire, lead a discussion on Fair Trade and faith groups.

On 17th June Fairtrade supporters joined with Climate Coalition partners (including Christian Aid, Greenpeace, Oxfam and WWF) to lobby their MP’s for more action to combat climate change.  The mass lobby took place at the Houses of Parliament in London.

The goal of the coalition is 100% clean, safe energy by 2050, to protect both people and nature.

Matt Wright of Fairtrade Horsforth and Mark Dawson, Coordinator of Fairtrade Yorkshire at the climate lobby

The world’s poorest communities are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, unable to afford adaptation strategies.  They are also the least to blame for the change in climate caused by rising CO2 emissions.

The benefits Fairtrade has brought to smallholder farmers and poor communities across the globe could be lost because of the changing climate.  Farmers in developing countries are already experiencing the detrimental effects of a changing climate leading to lower crop yields.

Constituents told their MP’s to:

Make it clean – we need to get all out energy from clean sources

Make it fair – support developing countries hardest hit by climate change

Make it work – for the sake of people and the environment – locally, nationally and globally.

The UK can play a pivotal role in obtaining a global climate deal at the UN climate conference in Paris in December, agreeing action to limit the rise in global temperature and delivering climate finance for developing countries.

Richard Lane, Communications Officer of Fairtrade Yorkshire, adds his message to the display in Lambeth Palace Gardens.

Horsforth has become Yorkshire’s newest Fairtrade Town.  The town on the north western edge of Leeds fulfilled all five goals in order to be awarded Fairtrade status.  The Fairtrade Town campaign, coordinated by Baptist Minister, Rev Matt Wright, engaged with all sections of the community, including community groups, workplaces, businesses and the local media.

Horsforth campaign group at the Farmers’ Market

The Town Council was supportive and Councillor Janice Pritlove acted as the Council’s representative on the Fairtrade Steering Group that campaigned to achieve the status.  Churches Together in Horsforth also took up the baton to help the town to make this amazing achievement.  Many events were held in the run up to the status being awarded, including regular stalls at the Horsforth Farmers’ Market.  Matt Wright’s culinary skills were put to the test at a pancake making event and local MP Stuart Andrew came to the market to support the Fairtrade campaign.

Rev Matt Wright

Coordinator of Fairtrade Yorkshire, Mark Dawson, congratulated Matt and the group on their success.  “I know how much work has gone into this campaign and Matt and the team deserve to be thanked for everything they have done to make Horsforth a Fair Trade Town.  Horsfordians have reason to be thoroughly proud.”

Nigel Mills, Sharon Clay, Lee-Ann Williams and Chris King of the Hull Fairtrade City Steering Group.

Hull Fairtrade City has been going from strength to strength in the past year.  The Fairtrade Steering Group has been successfully relaunched and the city has had its Fairtrade City status renewed with glowing comment from the Fairtrade Foundation.

Hull Fairtrade City enjoys the support of Hull and East Yorkshire Community Foundation, Hull City Council, Hull and East Riding Greenshare Network and the University of Hull.

Coordinator of Fairtrade Hull, Nigel Mills was delighted by the group’s success.  Last year Hull welcomed Fairtrade banana farmer, Aimeth from Columbia, with a school summit at Malet Lambert School and an event at the University of Hull which was attended by the Lord Mayor.  The status renewal form details many exciting plans for the next two years which should see Fairtrade Hull go up to the next level.

Bradford College’s Student Parliament has passed a Fairtrade Motion which now sees the college well on its way to gaining Fairtrade College status.

Members of Bradford College Students’ Union celebrate the successful vote.

This took place on 5th March during Fairtrade Fortnight.

The vote was taken in the college’s new state of the art David Hockney building.  Following the vote, a presentation was given with speeches from the College’s Group Chief Operating Officer, Gareth Osborne and Linda McAvan MEP.  The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Bradford also attended the presentation.

The Fairtrade Matters film was shown and then questions were taken by the Associate Director of the movie, Andy Powell.

President of the Students’ Union, Fatima Sohail, with the Lady Mayoress and Lord Mayor.

Fairtrade Bradford Coordinator, Karen Palframan, gave heartfelt thanks to the college for its support in the promotion of Fairtrade in the city.

For the afternoon of the 5th the Fairtrade Matters movie was shown on the giant screen in the city’s Centenary Square.

Fairtrade Holme Valley enjoyed the sweet taste of success as their new website was launched at a special event on 27th February.  Held at the town’s Soul Kitchen, the web launch was attended by supporters from across the valley.  The event also crossed the political divide with attendance from both Linda McAvan MEP and Jason McCartney MP.

Soulful: Holme folk at the Soul Kitchen

Helen Robinson, Chair of the Fairtrade Group, talked everyone through the new site and spoke of the achievements that have been made in the promotion of Fairtrade in the valley in the past few years.  There has been great success in engaging local businesses and this was evident in Holmfirth during Fairtrade Fortnight when many of the businesses displayed Fairtrade posters.  Some even displayed inflatable Fairtrade bananas, one of which mysteriously disappeared, but following wide media coverage across the Holme Valley was soon recovered.

Check out the Holme Valley website