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Fairtrade Activities in SaltfordHere we report on just some of the activities that the Saltford Fairtrade Group get up to. Fairtrade Group at Christmas Market (2nd Dec)November 2023 Saltford Fairtrade Group will once again have a stall at the Christmas Market on Saturday 2nd December 2023, there will be a range of Fairtrade products and gifts that could make the perfect present or stocking filler! By supporting Fairtrade you are making a difference by ensuring better prices and improved working conditions for farmers and their communities in the developing world. Don't forget there are plenty of local shops that stock Fairtrade products and we are grateful for donations received from our local Tesco and the Keynsham branch of Waitrose. Please visit us at the Christmas Market for a friendly chat and enjoy a cup of Fairtrade tea or coffee in the excellent Saltford Hall cafe. We hope to see you there. New members always welcome. Saltford Fairtrade Coffee Morning, 13th OctoberOctober 2023 Fairtrade
Friday October 13th from 11.00 am - 12.30pm
(Free Entry - Donations welcome) A warm welcome awaits you, with Fairtrade coffee, tea, cake and a raffle. Chat to Saltford's Fairtrade Group about Fairtrade and discover how by buying products with the Fairtrade logo help ensure better prices and improved working conditions for farmers and their communities in the developing world. Fairtrade Fortnight - Coffee Morning 10th Mar 2023February 2023 To mark Fairtrade Fortnight, Saltford's Fairtrade Group has arranged a coffee morning from 11am - 1pm on Friday 10th March 2023 at Saltford Hall in Wedmore Road. A warm welcome awaits you, with Fairtrade coffee, tea, and cake and a raffle. (Free Entry). If you are available, come along and help us celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight. Choosing Fairtrade products helps ensure better prices and improved working conditions for farmers and their communities in the developing world. Making the small switch to Fairtrade supports producers in protecting the future of some of our most-loved food and the planet. Fairtrade Christmas in SaltfordOctober 2021
Christmas is fast approaching, and the Saltford Community Association will be holding their Christmas Market on Saturday 4th December 2021 with doors open at 10am. Once more we will have a Fairtrade stall where we can show you a selection of the enormous range of Fairtrade goods that are available and perhaps inspire you on your quest for that perfect gift as well as helping to make a difference to others. Traidcraft offer an excellent range of Fairtrade products and at Christmas there is an additional range of cards, gifts, decorations, and seasonal foods. Please visit www.traidcraftshop.co.uk or if you would like to use their ordering service to avoid delivery charges, please contact Kath McCarthy on kath.mccarthy@hotmail.co.uk or 01225 344066. Please visit us at the Christmas Market for a friendly chat and enjoy a cup of Fairtrade tea or coffee in the excellent Saltford Hall cafe. Hope to see you there. New members always welcome. Climate change - what it means to Fairtrade farmers and how Fairtrade are responding to their needsSeptember 2021 As Part of The Great Big Green Week - Churches Together, Eco Festival on 18th September 2021 - Keynsham Market Walk/The Space, 10am - 3pm, the Saltford and Keynsham Fairtrade Groups are sharing a stall. Do come along to find out more about Fairtrade and their part in helping struggling farmers cope with climate change. FACTS - QUOTED FROM TRAIDCRAFT The cocoa industry is a turbulent sector, where poverty and child labour are still commonplace and a living income - enough for a decent standard of living, or £1.86 per day - is reserved for just a few farmers. For cocoa producers, it's a constant battle dealing with the effects of adverse weather conditions brought on by climate change and volatile cocoa prices. HELP IS AT HAND - QUOTE FROM THE FAIRTRADE FOUNDATION Environmental protection is a key element of Fairtrade's view of sustainability. Fairtrade Standards require smallholder farmer and larger hired labour production set-ups to comply in key areas. The Standards also promote training for farmers, which can include advice on switching to environmentally friendly practices. This has been shown to lead to good agricultural practices, which have encouraged environmentally sustainable production. The Standards also guide producers in adapting to climate change and mitigate their immediate needs. More than ever, they need a fair price for their crops and their hard work. SO WHY BUY FAIRTRADE? If you think feeding your family, educating your children and caring for your community and ultimately the planet is good for you then please buy Fairtrade and Traidcraft when choosing your tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar and bananas along with the many other products. No farmer should have to work so hard and not be able to feed their family and educate their children. SCA Open Morning 7th August 2021Pictured here is the Saltford Fairtrade Group stall at the Saltford Community Affiliation Open morning. After a year's absence it was good to see so many visitors to the event and share what the Saltford community have to offer. Meeting up with other stall holders and visitors renewed and straightened our commitment to promote the Fairtrade ethos and use of Fairtrade products. An Ethical and Fairtrade Christmas 2020With Christmas around the corner the Saltford Fairtrade Group would like to get everyone thinking about where the produce they buy comes from and how ethical it is. That lovely chocolate, coffee, tea and many more items we enjoy come from developing countries where farmers and their workers can often experience poor working conditions and receive 'below market price' for their products meaning they don't get a fair living wage for their produce. Fairtrade requires participating companies to provide their farmers a guaranteed fair wage. This must never be below the market price with the added bonus of a premium which the farmers jointly decide what their greatest needs are. The cost to us may be a little higher but the cost to the farmers and producers means healthy happy workers and a new generation of educated children. Take a look at the Fairtrade website to see for yourself the benefits of being a Fairtrade producer (and consumer)! You can also find out above sourcing a wide range of Fairtrade goodies. We would also recommend you look at Traidcraft's website for their collection of handcrafted ethical gifts, homeware, toys, fashion, and hand-harvested foods - all sourced from fair trade co-operatives, traditional artisans, and small-scale growers around the world. Our Saltford Village Fairtrade Group have an ordering service with Traidcraft and you can order items through us (saving on delivery costs) by emailing your list to kath.mccarthy@hotmail.co.uk. If you would like more information, please ring Kath on 01225 344066. See the list below to help you find some different Fairtrade products that you may not have thought of. Look out for them when you are out shopping to help you whip up a veritable feast for Christmas. Keep a look out for the green/blue and black/white Fairtrade logo in all our local supermarkets and in independent traders in Keynsham like W F Buss and Conscience. Herbs; Spices; Liqueur; Vodka; Cocoa powder; Vanilla Bean Extract; Vanilla Pods; Packets of nuts - brazil, pecan, peanuts/peanuts and raisins, cashews; Olive oil; Fridge coffee based drinks; Flowers; and Cotton wool. Thank you for choosing Fairtrade. Help us live up to our Saltford Village Fairtrade StatusWe may not have had coffee mornings and stalls throughout these difficult days but we have been supporting Fairtrade and Traidcraft and enjoying their tea, coffee, bananas and other products. We have now also restarted our monthly Traidcraft on line shopping service again which has lots more Traidcraft products and gifts - visit www.traidcraftshop.co.uk to choose your items, email kath.mcarthy@hotmail.co.uk with your order, or ring Kath on 01225 344066 if you have any queries. Fairtrade and Traidcraft also received £100 each from money raised by you at our last coffee morning. Reduce, reuse and recycle - we are all trying to reduce our food waste and think more carefully about waste and resources in the clothing industry etc. and so are Traidcraft. As supporters of Fairtrade we would invite you to rummage around your jewellery boxes for those bits and pieces (one earring we keep, just because...) or something that 'needs fixing but never get around to doing it' and donate them to Traidcraft to be recycled. Foreign coinage, old UK bank notes (any age) and broken watches are also valuable to Traidcraft. Let us add to the £43,000 raised so far together. When you've searched let us know by email saltfordfairtrade@hotmail.co.uk and we can arrange to send them off or we can send you a prepaid label to put on an A5 envelope for which we have a template. There are two good links to look at that explain the Traidcraft campaigns and aims:- Recycle for Traidcraft Exchange (link) and Fairtrade - because justice matters (link). Thank you all for choosing Fairtrade. September 2020 Fairtrade Coffee morning 28 Feb 2020To celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight there will be a Fairtade coffee morning at Saltford Hall in Wedmore Road on Friday 28th February from 10.30am-12.30pm. The theme this year follows on from 2019, 'She deserves a fair wage', but our Fairtrade group has learnt so much more about how Fairtrade is trying to tackle the ever present climate change issue and other important factors to make Fairtrade farming more sustainable. By enjoying Fairtrade products and hearing how the Fairtrade Foundation are making valuable inroads to help Fairtrade farmers we would like to arm everyone with practical helpful facts to take away and help spread the Fairtrade ethos with us. No coffee morning would be complete without home made cakes and we look forward to sharing a warm welcome to everyone. AFTER THE EVENT The Saltford Fairtrade Group would like to say a big thank you to everyone who supported our campaign during Fairtrade Fortnight. Our stall at Saltford Hall was designed to pass on information about the Fairtrade Foundation that most people wouldn't know about. Aspects such as sustainable farming and adaptation to crops to cope with climate change. Cakes, cakes and more cakes, well it was a coffee morning after all. Thank you to everyone who joined us. Friends bought friends and made new friends and all shared the Fairtrade ethos. A special thanks goes to the SCA who let us set up our stall and donated the tea, coffee and sugar for the coffee morning. All this adds up to a caring Fairtrade village and we are delighted to announce that we have been awarded Fairtrade Village status during Fairtrade Fortnight. We would also like to thank Tesco and Waitrose for their kind contribution towards our Fairtrade Fortnight coffee morning. Getting ready for Christmas 2019 the Fairtrade way with the Saltford Fairtrade GroupWe bet you wouldn't think that the kitchen gloves, bars of soap, kitchen towels and spices on the Saltford Fairtrade stall at the Saltford Christmas Fair this year (30th November) were all Fairtrade? Along with the array of lovely colourful Tradecraft goodies it made the perfect way get everyone's Christmas preparations started. Thank you everyone for buying Fairtrade, where you know that the producers always reap the benefits of their labour to better their lives and that of their families and cooperatives. Think Christmas, think Fairtrade. Fairtrade Christmas Extravaganza, Larkall, Bath (8th Nov 2019)St Saviour's website is at https://stsaviours.org.uk where directions can be found (at the bottom of the home page). Gender and Fairtrade (8 March 2019)'She deserves a living income', the theme of this year's Fairtrade Fortnight fitted in well when on International Women's Day our guest speaker Dr Roy Maconachie showed 40 of us his film entitled "Gender and Fairtrade - the stories of women cocoa farmers in Ghana". What happens before the bar of chocolate you buy gets neatly wrapped? Are we paying a fair price for it? Does choosing Fairtrade Chocolate really made a difference to anyone? Roy's film, talk and question & answer session certainly gave us a great deal to think about. His research had to work around the sensitivities and culture barriers of the women he wanted to film, something that had not been recognised in the past but is now standard practice. The women had been given video cameras to capture their daily lives giving them free reign to tell their stories, no questions, just realities. The women spoke their minds and showed the struggle of helping their husbands and attending to all the family needs before working their own cocoa trees. One of Roy's aims was to generate wider lessons for Fairtrade policy and practice, particularly in relation to how cooperatives can do more to empower women and enable them to access greater benefits from Fairtrade. One of Roy's conclusions through his research was that although Fairtrade certification initiatives not initially designed to address gender inequality, or the specific concerns that women face in cocoa production, gender equity has now become one of the key principles of Fairtrade. This has been borne out in the 2019 Fairtrade Fortnight theme 'She deserves a better wage'. Following a thoughtful, lively question and answer session we were left with fresh thoughts and ideas of the importance of sharing the Fairtrade ethos. Credits: FILM: -'Gender and Fairtrade: The stories of women cocoa farmers in Ghana'. A film by Dr Roy Maconachie, Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath. PRESENTATION: 'How 'fair' is Fairtrade? Ethical cocoa production and gender in Ghana'. Public lecture and discussion by Dr Roy Maconachie, Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath, March 8th 2019, Saltford Hall, Saltford. Click on the link to watch his fascinating film "Gender and Fairtrade - The stories of women cocoa farmers in Ghana": https://vimeo.com/154721350 Fairtrade & Traidcraft together at Saltford Christmas MarketThe Saltford Fairtrade Group had their annual stall again at this year's Saltford Christmas Market on 3rd December 2016, this time working alongside a local representative (Lyndsey Wright) who had on display Fairtrade products from Traidcraft. Traidcraft is claimed to be the UK's leading fair trade organisation. Their mission is to fight poverty through trade. Established in 1979, Traidcraft's unique structure - a UK trading company and a development charity working together - enables them to build long-term relationships with producers, support people to trade out of poverty and work to bring about trade justice. You can find out more about Traidcraft's work (and order their products) at www.traidcraft.co.uk or you can contact Lyndsey via her email fairtrade@stsaviours.org.uk and she will also be delighted to tell you more about their products and other Fairtrade companies and how to order from them. In addition to the Traidcraft display the Saltford group continued to promote Fairtrade and ran a small raffle which contained a mix of products some kindly donated by the local Co-Operative store. Finally, the group were grateful once again for the support received from the Village Hall and the Saltford Community Association who served Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar at this and at all their events. Fairtrade Fortnight (29 Feb-13 Mar 2016) quiz answers
The Saltford Fairtrade Group had a stall at the Co-op store in Saltford during Fairtrade Fortnight on 4th and 5th March to help spread the Fairtrade message. Here are the answers for the quiz sheet handed out from the stall:
Fairtrade at the Saltford Festival (June 2015)
At the Fairtrade Group's request Saltford Community Association agreed that the 2015 Saltford Festival would be Fairtrade Friendly. The Fairtrade logo was printed on all of the promotional literature and posters which reached a wide audience both inside and outside of Saltford, and that was just the start. Chris Essex and his team supplied and delivered Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar to every SCA affiliated venue that served refreshments. The Fairtrade Group donated tea, coffee and sugar to the Guides' and Brownies' open evening events. We are proud to say that Fairtrade products were used at every event at Saltford Hall (who have been Fairtrade Friendly for some time now), The Saltford Golf Club, The Saltford Rowing Club, and Eastover Farm. Following the Festival our hope will be that these venues will continue to support Fairtrade. All of this was made easier by the wonderful support of our local shops. The chocolate treats on the Fairtrade stalls during the Festival were kindly donated by Tesco. The Saltford Co-op have a worthy record of supporting Fairtrade and this year worked together with the SCA and helped keep the coffee cups full, the tea brewing and the wine flowing throughout the Festival. The Bird in Hand and The Jolly Sailor sweetened your tea and coffee using Fairtrade sugar and so the Fairtrade Friendly Saltford message spread. The Saltford Festival will live in our memories and the 'festival buzz' is still with us leaving a great legacy of local togetherness. Please remember that when you buy a bunch of bananas, some castor sugar or any Fairtrade produce you will be supporting emerging country farmers to achieve fair prices for their produce and give them the means to support their families and villages in a way of their choosing. You don't have to go far to buy Fairtrade produce either, it's all in our local shops. A big thank you to Saltford Community Association and the village of Saltford for making Saltford a truly Fairtrade Friendly Village. Fairtrade Fortnight, 23 February - 8 March 2015The messages from our Fairtrade Fortnight were:
Fairtrade refreshments were served on 23rd February (2015) at the Three villages charity grand coffee morning at Saltford Hall to mark the beginning of fairtrade fortnight. Pictured above are Saltford Fairtrade Group members Gill Self and Frances Eggbeer handing over fairtrade roses, coffee and hot chocolate donated by the Co-op for the raffle. To find out more about what it means to be a 'Fairtrade Village' or how you, your shop, school, business, community group or club can get involved then please contact our local Fairtrade Group by email to saltfordfairtrade@hotmail.co.uk. Fairtrade Group serve 170+ at open garden event & prove that Fairtrade tastes good!
The Saltford Fairtrade Group provided tea, coffee and cakes for the wildlife-friendly garden open day organised by SEG at Eastover Farm, Manor Road on Sunday 29th June 2014. Over 170 guests enjoyed the stunning gardens and the excellent Fairtrade refreshments served continuously throughout the afternoon. Saltford Girl Guides assisted with the catering arrangements and several SEG members provided home baked cakes (see photo) using Fairtrade ingredients. Many thanks to everyone who assisted with the catering and baking, to the local Tesco, Waitrose and Co-Op stores for donating Fairtrade cake ingredients, and to Saltford Community Association for loan of the crockery etc.
Fairtrade coffee producer from Nicaragua comes to Saltford (March 2014)
The day included a visit and talk to Saltford Primary School and culminated in an informal short talk and discussion at Saltford Hall. Approximately 50 people attended and were treated not only to the presentation but also had the chance to try Fairtrade refreshments including some Nicaraguan coffee. The organisers had even managed to find some traditional Nicaraguan folk music to help liven up the evening. Margarita's talk was enthusiastically received and it clearly demonstrated just what a difference Fairtrade makes not only to her as a producer but also what the funding they receive can do to support their local schools and community helping to ensure better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and their workers. Saltford Fairtrade Village signs erected 21 October 2013
Also pictured here standing proudly by the newly erected sign at the West end of the village is Saltford Parish Council Chairman Duncan Hounsell and members of SEG's Fairtrade Group who have worked tirelessly to achieve Fairtrade status for Saltford. The Fairtrade Foundation awarded Saltford Fairtrade status on 4th April 2013 and our certificate was formally handed over in July 2013. Saltford receives its Fairtrade Village Certificate (2013)
Following the achievement of Fairtrade Village status on 4th April 2013, Saltford formally received this status at a special event held at Saltford Golf Club on 15th July 2013. The village status certificate was presented to Gill Self, the leader of the Saltford Fairtrade Group, by the Chairman of Bath and North East Somerset Council, Councillor Neil Butters. To achieve Fairtrade Village status, the Saltford Fairtrade Group needed to achieve 5 key objectives including the support of the Parish Council and evidence that Fairtrade products are being used and promoted in Saltford retail and catering outlets, workplaces and community organisations. A portfolio of evidence was submitted to the Fairtrade Foundation earlier in 2013. Saltford Parish Council, Saltford Community Association, Saltford School, St. Mary's Church, the Co-op Store, Saltford Environment Group, Signs of Saltford and others gave support and encouragement. Many of those organisations were represented at the Award event. Gill Self said "The evening marked a milestone in a continuing process. We are setting new targets to demonstrate that a significant number of local businesses, organisations and community groups in Saltford support Fairtrade and are committed to using Fairtrade products in the future. Our campaigning continues. We must always remember why we are here and our purpose - increasing the use of Fairtrade products can make a real difference to people's lives and help ensure trade really is fair." Fairtrade Cocktails for Caribbean Evening (March 2013)The Fairtrade Group served a choice of Fairtrade cocktails at the Caribbean Evening held at Saltford Hall on Saturday 23rd February. Here's a report of the event from the Saltford Fairtrade Group:- Picture a warm, balmy Caribbean evening with cocktails and good food (but in Saltford in February...). Saltford Hall was transformed into a tropical paradise by the SCA where the Fairtrade for Saltford Group made cocktails for a very successful Caribbean evening. After cutting, blending and a few sample slurps we made piña coladas, rum punch and non-alcoholic punch from Fairtrade Rum, pineapple juice, orange juice all decorated with fresh Fairtrade pineapple and lime along with orange slices and parasols. These were greatly enjoyed by the party goers who came back for seconds. We were asked to draw the raffle which also included a donated bottle of Fairtrade champagne. This gave us the opportunity to tell the assembly a little about Fairtrade produce and the aims of the campaign, Fairtrade for Saltford. We were also able to provide bowls of Fairtrade nuts to go on the tables which were also donated. Thanks go to The Co-op and Tesco who made these donations and are a local source of Fairtrade products. Saltford Celebrates South West Fairtrade Day, 22 September 2012Cllr. Duncan Hounsell, Chair of Saltford Parish Council, is pictured handing over a cheque for £200 to Gill Self, leader of the Saltford Fairtrade Group, on 30th September 2012. This was to mark South West Fairtrade Day held recently (on 22nd September). The South West is a leading region for Fairtrade and Saltford Parish Council's support of Saltford Fairtrade Group is one of five goals to be met to secure Fairtrade Village status. Gill Self hopes that Saltford can obtain Fairtrade Village status during 2013. Saltford Fairtrade Group is working with the Parish Council on Saltford's Fairtrade status and is undertaking a fact-finding audit of Saltford businesses and community groups' knowledge and use of Fairtrade products. The Group meets regularly to plan activities to promote and encourage the use of Fairtrade products at new or existing events around the village. Contact is being made with businesses and key organisations within the village to encourage the use of Fairtrade products. Sourcing Fairtrade ingredients etc.If you use any Fairtrade ingredients you can call the pud or cake Fairtrade, but of course the more you use the better, aim for 2 or 3. The list below is not exhaustive and there are lots of other places where Fairtrade ingredients are available (including Waitrose). We have tried to think of the easiest/local shops even if most are supermarkets. This is a constantly changing situation so if anyone has any comments or additions please email them to: saltfordfairtrade@hotmail.co.uk. Sugar
Chocolate/cocoa powder
Bananas
Coffee & Tea
Nuts
Orange Juice
Dried Goods (incl spices) and Pulses
There are lots of Fairtrade recipes if you Google search them, a good site is www.fairtrade.org.uk; this also tells you where else to source the ingredients. Although our wonderful diverse weather doesn't allow us to grow bananas and coffee beans, our local producers work hard to keep us supplied with wonderful produce as well so buying local is something to think about when we do our shopping. A fair price for their products and our support can make a difference to them as well. BackgroundFollowing representations by Saltford Environment Group (SEG), Saltford Parish Council voted on 6th March 2012 to support the idea of Saltford becoming a Fairtrade Village. Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. SEG are grateful to the Co-op in Saltford who hosted and supported a Fairtrade tastings stall to launch and promote our Fairtrade activities on 10th March 2012. A Steering Group ("Saltford Fairtrade Group") was established by SEG with support from the Parish Council and this group is co-ordinating and promoting action on our Fairtrade status. The group also maintains close links with the Keynsham Fairtrade Group - Keynsham has been a Fairtrade Town since February 2005. Saltford received its "Fairtade Village" status on 4th April 2013. To become a Fairtrade Village five goals had to be met: (i) Local council passes a resolution supporting Fairtrade, and agrees to serve Fairtrade products (for example, in meetings). (ii) A range of Fairtrade products are readily available in the area's retail outlets (shops, supermarkets, newsagents and petrol stations) and served in local catering outlets (cafes, restaurants, pubs). (iii) Local workplaces and community organisations (places of worship, schools, and other community organisations) support Fairtrade and use Fairtrade products whenever possible. (iv) Media coverage and events raise awareness and understanding of Fairtrade across the community. (v) A local Fairtrade steering group is convened to ensure the Fairtrade Town/Village campaign continues to develop and gain new support. Further informationIf you would like to get involved with supporting the Saltford Fairtrade Group as a volunteer or if you have any queries, you can contact us by email: saltfordfairtrade@hotmail.co.uk. If you would like to know more about Fairtrade history, products, and producers etc, visit the Fairtrade Foundation website: www.fairtrade.org.uk. © Saltford Environment Group |
<< Fairtrade Activities in Saltford << Sourcing Fairtrade ingredients etc. << Background & further information You can contact Saltford Fairtrade Group by email: saltfordfairtrade@hotmail.co.uk
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