The Sudbury Fairtrade Group met on Tuesday 21 January 2020. Nicki Dixon was elected chairman and future plans were discussed.
Read the Notes from the meeting.
The group are seeking new members. Please download and display the Poster . If you share the vision for promoting Fairtrade in Sudbury and the surrounding area, please contact Nicki Dixon at info@sudburyfairtrade.org.uk .
Fairtrade Sudbury
Nicki Dixon is launching an appeal for new members to join the Sudbury group to work to maintain our town’s Fairtrade status. She’s particularly keen to hear from anyone (not just churchgoers) who are interested in helping promote the concept of Fairtrade in their social groups and workplaces. She is also contacting schools to see if they’d like to get involved.
She is not envisaging endless meetings and paperwork but maybe a get together every other month (or further apart if the need for a meeting isn’t there) to discuss news and ways to promote the group to others, including those outside our church families. Nicki has booked a stall space at the Ballingdon Fete on Sunday September 6 where she’ll hopefully be selling some Fairtrade goodies, run a lucky dip and hand out leaflets.
Fairtrade fortnight (which starts on Feb 24) will be an ideal opportunity to showcase our Fairtrade status so anyone with any ideas can contact Nicki at nicki.dixon@hotmail.co.uk
She will also be attending the Suffolk Association of Fairtrade Towns day in Beccles on July 11.
Other plans include a market stall in the warmer months, more promotion for the stall at Kettle and Fish and continued growth of the Facebook page.
Read the minutes of the Steering Group meeting held on 8 July 2019.
Three members of the Sudbury Group attended the Fairtrade Conference in London.
Read their Report .
Read the minutes of the Steering Group meeting of 4 July 2018.
Please note that John Boardman is willing to talk to any groups about Fairtrade.
Read the minutes of the Steering Group, including plans for Fairtrade Fortnight.
Read the minutes of the Steering Group, including plans for Fairtrade Fortnight.
For more news, please see our Facebook page .
For information at national level, please see www.fairtrade.org.uk .
For information about Fairtrade in Suffolk, see www.suffolkfairtrade.org.uk .
Revd John Boardman spoke about “The Fairtrade foundation and meeting the suppliers in Sri Lanka” at the Open Forum of Churches Together in Sudbury & District, in December 2017. His talk was illustrated with numerous photos.
Ann and John travelled to Sri Lanka with Traidcraft visiting the people who supply some of the goods found in the Traidcraft catalogue, a ‘holiday with a difference’. They went in Jan-Feb 2016. Sri Lanka is predominantly Buddhist with a small Christian minority. The trip included an elephant safari and an opportunity to see some of the conservation projects.
The main business of the trip involved meeting suppliers of fair trade goods including a cotton factory at Selyn. The cotton is grown in India and comes to Sri Lanka raw. It is then dyed, spun and woven. The dying process is hot work, but all of the effluent from the process is reused, making it more environmentally friendly. Once the fabric is produced it is made up into different items which are marketed worldwide.
John and Ann also visited a spice factory and tasted the wares! They visited one of the fair trade tea estates at Thotulegala and were taught how to pick tea. It takes 45kg of tea leaves to make 1kg of dried tea. They met fair trade representatives who spoke positively about their working relationship with the company.
John and Ann visited ‘Gospel House’ where fair trade toys are made and saw many of the toys that are sold by Traidcraft, again they met many of the reps who spoke of the benefits of being a fair trade worker.
Coconuts are used in many different ways in Sri Lanka and fair trade coconut milk and coir compost are both available.
When we buy fair trade there is a small amount of premium which is given to the local fair trade representatives to use to enrich the community, providing healthcare, education or leisure facilities.
Sudbury has a fair trade group (of which John is chairman) and they have a guide to the town showing where fair trade goods can be brought. There are concerns however about Sainsbury’s suppliers as their tea no longer bears the fair trade mark. John has a letter for the manager of Sudbury Sainsbury’s raising these concerns. A number of other companies are also marketing their own ‘fairly traded’ products, but these don’t provide the same amount of premium or choice for the workers.
John also spoke about concerns of how Brexit might affect fair trade laws and conditions. He encouraged people to lobby and ask questions regarding the renegotiation of trade agreements and linked this with the Advent message of justice given by John the Baptist.
What a great time Sudbury had this year.
Tudor Primary school had a wonderful Fairtrade afternoon “breakfast” on Friday 11th March. Fairtrade banana muffins were baked by the children. The school Fairtrade committee helped to serve Fairtrade tea and coffee refreshments to mums, dads, brothers and sisters after school.
On Saturday,12th March, Patrick Kaberia Muthaura, a tea farmer from Kenya came to Sudbury. The hall at St John’s Methodist Church had over 50 people present.
Patrick explained how Fairtrade helps the community. He was a wonderful communicator and so enthusiastic about Fairtrade. His message was “Buy more Fairtrade”!