Fairtrade

Coffee Grower in Uganda
(Photo courtesy of the
Fairtrade Foundation)

Once a month (sometimes more often) there is a Fairtrade stall at St Mary’s and, a week later, at Christchurch.  The stall sells basic items such as tea, coffee and hot chocolate along with jam, marmalade and honey together with tasty chocolate and incredibly popular ginger biscuits. There are many other items through which buyers can provide a fair price for producers as well as raising money for the church and a catalogue is available with all sorts of wonderful items, ranging from jewellery to T-shirts.

The stall is open on the first Sunday of the month at St Mary’s in the Priory Centre after the 10am service and at the back of the church after the 11am service.  It opens at Christchurch Hall on the second Sunday of each month after the 9am service. It also opens at various fairs and special events.

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices (which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives.

The Fairtrade Foundation is a development organisation committed to tackling poverty and injustice through trade, and the UK member of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). The Foundation works with businesses, civil society organisations and individuals to improve the position of producer organisations in the South and to help them achieve sustainable improvements for their members and their communities. Certification and product labelling (through the FAIRTRADE Mark) are the primary tools for our development goals. The backing of organisations of producers and consumers in a citizen’s movement for change is fundamental and integral to our work.