Fairtrade Fortnight in Beverley

Beverley Fairtrade Group is inviting the local community to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight 2015 and choose products that change lives.

Campaigners across the town are joining forces with the rest of the country to remind everyone of the dramatic difference Fairtrade makes around the world and why it is urgently needed.

The group will be holding a public screening of ‘Fairtrade Matters’, on Tuesday 24 February at Toll Gavel United Church at 10 am   This is an evocative and thought-provoking short film by the Fairtrade Foundation and director Will Robson-Scott.

With cinematic landscapes of rural southern Malawi never far away, the film features poignant portraits of tea producers Edson Maotchedwe, a 45-year old tea farmer and dedicated father of seven and Tsala Mwale, a 28-year-old single mother of one and a pioneer in her village, where she was the first to bring solar power to her home, who works in a tea processing factory.

Captivating, moving and sometimes stark, the film touches on the universal themes that affect us all – from providing for our children to planning for an uncertain future - whilst showing the vital socio-economic benefits of Fairtrade.

At the same time, an exhibition will be opened to the public in the church featuring the stories of some Fairtrade producers, particularly of tea, cocoa, sugar and bananas. There will be pictures and information and some creative work on the theme 'work' from Year 9 at Beverley High School will feature as part of the exhibition. This exhibition will be open every weekday morning from the Tuesday to Saturday of that week.

John Turner, group chairman (pictured), visited some producers in Ghana at the end of 2014. He met cocoa growers belonging to the Kuapa Kookoo co-operative which produces the cocoa for Divine chocolate and Cadbury’s Dairy Milk. He met a group called Serendiplam who are producing the world’s first Fairtrade palm oil and this is being used by Traidcraft to produce a range of environmentally friendly cleaning products, He finally met some banana growers belonging to the Volta River Estate which sells bananas to the UK.

The Beverley Fairtrade Group is also organising a Coffee Morning which will be held in Toll Gavel United Church hall on Saturday 28 February from 10am to 12noon. The following Saturday, 7 March, a Big Brew will held in the Church Centre from 1pm

The group members will also be encouraging people to take part in the 'Stock It' challenge, trying to persuade local shops, cafes and restaurants to stock more Fairtrade products

John Turner from the Beverley group said: "We are inviting everyone in the town and surrounding area to come down, and watch the film and look carefully at the exhibition and learn more about the benefits for small scale farmers by working with Fairtrade."

70% of the world’s food is produced by 500 million smallholder farmers, yet many of them remain trapped in chronic poverty while shoppers enjoy the fruits of their labour. Fairtrade ensures farmers across the developing world receive a fairer price for their work, as well as an additional Fairtrade Premium, used by farmers and workers to invest in their communities. The community then decides what the Premium is spent on, whether that’s building a new school or hospital, or investing in better environmental business practices.

Adam Gardner, Fairtrade Foundation’s communities campaigns manager, said: "The UK has one of the most powerful networks of Fairtrade campaigners in the world, raising awareness about Fairtrade values in their communities and driving positive change for smallholder farmers, and their families, in developing countries. It is thanks to the support of groups like Beverley that currently more than 1.5million farmers and workers around the world benefit from the Fairtrade system.

"In 2015, we want to see more individuals and businesses buying and selling Fairtrade products in the UK. The more that people choose Fairtrade, the more farmers and workers will be empowered to improve their lives through the better terms of trade it offers."

Fairtrade Fortnight is the highlight of the year for Fairtrade campaigners up and down the country. From 23 February – 8 March, thousands of events will be held to amplify the campaign in many of Fairtrade’s network of 600 Fairtrade Towns, 1,350 Fairtrade Schools and 170 Fairtrade Universities, and 7,500 Fairtrade Faith Groups. 

You can find out more about Fairtrade Fortnight, and how to get involved in your local area, at fairtrade.org.uk/fortnight or contact John Turner by phone on 01482 867573 or email jeturnerbev@hotmail.com.