Annual Spring Meeting Celebrates 25 years of the Fairtrade Mark

2019 is the 25th year of the Fairtrade Mark and on Saturday 27th April, the Cumbria Fair Trade Network held their annual spring meeting and AGM at St Herbert’s School, Keswick to celebrate this and all the work groups and individuals do to promote and support Fairtrade across Cumbria.

Twelve of the county’s fair trade groups and towns were represented at the meeting and we were joined by pupils from St Herbert’s school and by Adam Gardner from the Fairtrade Foundation. One of our groups, Kendal Fair Trade Group, organised a 25th anniversary celebration cake for our meeting as well. In addition, two of the Cumbria Fair Trade Network member groups, Caldbeck Fair World Shop and Victoria Fair Trade, Penrith, brought along some of their fair trade products for members to buy.

Our meeting began with St Herbert’s pupils. St Herbert’s is a Fairtrade school and the pupils told us about all the work they do, from reception through to year 6, to learn about Fairtrade, it’s importance and what they can do to support trade justice issues.

The members then had an opportunity to hear from Adam Gardner, Communities Campaigns Manager, from the Fairtrade Foundation. He provided first-hand experience of the importance of Fairtrade for individuals and communities overseas and reminded us that to make trade fair, we have an important role to change society here. It is clear how important our local groups are for raising awareness and campaigning about Fairtrade.

Adam talked about three recent experiences he has had as part of his role at the Fairtrade Foundation: in Lebanon at the first International Fairtrade Towns Conference, in Panama meeting with banana farmers and co-operative members, and also in the Cote d’Ivoire, meeting and learning from cocoa farmers. The need to continue supporting, promoting and advocating for Fairtrade is clear. The impact of supporting Fairtrade in these communities, on poverty, education, climate and sustainability, were all clearly evidenced by Adam.

Adam’s input really inspired us to think about how we continue to raise awareness and build support for Fairtrade in Cumbria, and led us into a great conversation about local ideas that other groups could use to generate support.

Chair Martin Sleath noted “When you hear about the real-life difference that Fairtrade makes to real-life people, it really brings home that Fairtrade is not just a system - it’s a way to bring dignity and a better quality of life to some of the most marginalised people.”

The Cumbria Fair Trade Network is really grateful to the ongoing hard work from the steering group and in particular, Rachel Dutfield the treasurer and Martin Sleath, the chair.

We have another exciting year ahead of us as a network and as groups across Cumbria, with lots of ideas for events, a presence at the Kendal Unity Festival on the 22nd June and the North Regional meeting planned for the Autumn.