Cumbria became only the second County in the U.K. to achieve Fairtrade County status in March 2006. For more details please go to www.cumbriafairtrade.org.uk.
Many churches in Cumbria are already Fairtrade Churches. If your place of worship is already committed to using, selling and promoting Fairtrade products, but has not already had certification from the Fairtrade Foundation, you can download the form from: www.fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved_faiths.htm.
The Cumbria Fair Trade Network business plan aims for every county denominational body in Cumbria to gain Fairtrade status by spring 2009. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster and the Westmorland General Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) have already achieved Fairtrade status. Other denominational bodies are starting to work towards it.
So please urge and help your Diocese/District/Division/Meeting to work towards achieving this Fairtrade status. The Fairtrade Foundation has specified that to qualify, your denominational area needs to agree:
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To support and promote Fairtrade, further encourage the use and sale of Fairtrade products and to serve only Fairtrade coffee and tea at meetings it is responsible for.
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To encourage parishes, circuits, local churches etc. to adopt the same policy. As far as possible, display literature advertising the fact that Fairtrade products are used and served there.
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Ensure Fairtrade tea, coffee and other products, if possible, are used and/or sold by more that one half of the churches in your denominational area.
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Attract further media coverage and continue raising awareness of the FAIRTRADE Mark. If possible, make reference to denominational area’s Fairtrade status on the relevant website.
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Set up a Fairtrade steering group to take responsibility for monitoring that goals continue to be met and developed over time.
For more information or to arrange a speaker on Fairtrade, please contact Helen Boothroyd
Speakers from Keswick Fair Trade Group are available to talk about their visit to producers in Oroma; the part of Ethiopia where world coffee cultivation began. The Group has inspiring stories to tell from ‘the birthplace of coffee’, about the way in which Fairtrade is changing lives. To hear them, call or email:
Elspeth Sherwen: 017687 73818 elspethsherwen@btopenworld.com
or
Allan Sharman: 07944 193 482 allshar@hotmail.com
To learn more about Fairtrade, visit: www.fairtrade.org.uk.