Last month we said "Farewell" to Janet, a long-term member of the Fairtrade Action Group and supporter of Fairtrade.



Janet is moving up to the North-East where we hope that she will find outlets for her enthusiasm and mini-muffins! Thank you for all you have done for the cause of Fairtrade in Kenilworth.

We are always looking for more Fairtrade supporters to work with us, if you are interested please email us on fairtradekenilworth@gmail.com

Looking forward to Fairtrade Fortnight 2016 29th Feb to 13th March!

As part of Fairtrade Fortnight we were out questioning shoppers. 

As we enter into the final week of a Fairtrade Fortnight 2015, on Saturday 7th March from 10:00am to 12:00pm members of the Kenilworth Fairtrade Group will be in Talisman Square promoting Kenilworth's status as a Fairtrade Town.

The event forms part of the annual national Fairtrade Fortnight and visitors to the Group's stand will be invited to take part in a quiz to recognise a number of well-known logos, including the Fairtrade sign, and also to complete one of two large Fairtrade jigsaws. All visitors to the stand will receive a free Fartirade muffin!

We are hosting an (unofficial) world record attempt from 10am on Saturday 8 March in Talisman Square when all are invited to have a go at beating the existing world record for the most stacked bananas (current record is ten).

Bananas are the focus of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight after a decade-long price war has seen costs of the fruit almost halving but the cost of producing the food increasing by almost double.

Everyone who tries the challenge will get a Fairtrade banana and chance to win goodies in a family-friendly quiz. Sue Proctor, group chairman, said : “‘We’re hoping as many people as possible come along for a bit of fun with a serious message.”

Visit recordsetter.com/world-record/tallest-banana-tower/30127 for tips before the big competition day.

Pictured is Steve Proctor from the Kenilworth Fairtrade Group trying to reach the world record. He didn’t succeed.

or in our Fairtrade group Make Kenilworth a Fairtrade Town

Fairtrade Fortnight in Kenilworth is generously supported by Andrew Davies, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

Fairtrade Fortnight runs from 25 February to 10 March this year and in Kenilworth we are celebrating our the Fairtrade cuppa! Why not try out something new or introduce a friend to your favourite Fairtrade hot drink. And to keep it hot you can knit yourself a "mug hugger" and enter our competition to produce the best mug cosy. The knitting pattern can be found at:
or in our Fairtrade group Make Kenilworth a Fairtrade Town

Why not have a fair festive season this year? There are lots of Fairtrade food and gifts available in our local shops from clothing to cosmetics and wine to chocolate why not treat someone and spread some joy and give hope to farmers in developing countries across the world.

If you're visiting the Warwick Road lights switch on this Friday we will be there with our Fairtrade tombola, come along and see us.

A step is any action that supports Fairtrade – taking a first step could be someone buying their first packet of Fairtrade coffee, tea or sugar; for someone further along the Fairtrade ‘journey’, your step could be to find out more about the Kenilworth Fairtrade Town campaign; and if you are a seasoned Fairtrade campaigner, your step could be to organise a fun public event for Fairtrade Fortnight.

The Fairtrade Foundation and the Kenilworth Fairtrade Action Group are asking everyone who takes a step to register it over at www.fairtrade.org.uk/step where steps will be displayed on the Fairtrade Foundation's interactive 'step-o-meter'.

Labels: Fairtrade Fortnight 2012

Fairtrade Directory 2012

The Fairtrade Foundation will launch Fairtrade Fortnight 2011 today by announcing that sales of Fairtrade products soared by 40% in 2010 to an estimated retail value of £1.17bn. UK shoppers are continuing to embrace Fairtrade, showing no downturn on ethical values despite the tough economic times.

For a calender of events happening around the country see

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/show_off_your_label/show_off_events/default.aspx?pageIndex=1

Kenilworth will be supporting Fairtrade Fortnight again this year by raising people's awareness of the products.

On Saturday the shoppers of Kenilworth took part in the Big Swap, swapping their used tea bags for new Fairtrade tea bags, and taking the opportunity to sample some Fairtrade chocolate cake and take part in the Fairtrade town trail, which is taking place throughout Fairtrade fortnight and involves a series of posters in shops that sell or use Fairtrade products. Entry forms can be obtained from the Kings' Table and the Library.

The Saturday in Abbey End followed our supporters evening on Friday 26th February, with Jeremey Wright MP, the Mayor of Kenilworth, other representatives of the local Council and supporters from some of the local retailers, businesses and voluntary groups that have signed up to support Fairtrade in Kenilworth.

In the picture below, Sue Proctor, Chair of the Fairtrade Steering Group, is pictured with Jeremy Wright and with Susan Howell, and Town Council representative on the Steering Group.

On the morning of Saturday March 7th (10:30am – midday) in Abbey End Kenilworth Fairtrade Group will be encouraging shoppers to take part in the National “Go Bananas” attempt on the world record for the number of Fairtrade bananas eaten in one day. This event, which will be attended by Jeremy Wright MP and the Mayor of Kenilworth Cllr Spencer Harrison, will be the climax of Fairtrade Fortnight (23rd February – 8th March) and is part of a campaign to ensure that half of all bananas eaten by 2012 are Fairtrade bananas.

During Fairtrade Fortnight residents of Kenilworth and visitors will also be invited to take part in a competition to win a free hamper of Fairtrade produce. Entrants to the competition will collect stamps from retail outlets in the town that supply Fairtrade produce to their customers and staff. These stamps can be collected on a card distributed through local schools and churches and in the local newspaper.

And on 1st March, there’ll be a Fairtrade football competition at Meadow Sports Astroturf in Leyes Lane (3:00 – 4:00pm) to which all young people in the town are invited to take part. Entry is free.

We received notification that Kenilworth had been successful in its application for Fairtrade Town status shortly after Fairtrade Fortnight, on March 25th, and have now received our certificate which we will aim to have on display in the Library. We're very excited and proud after two years hard work to have achieved this goal and we're extremely grateful to everyone who has supported us through this period.

We're now looking forward to building on this achievement and working with many more local businesses, voluntary groups and individuals to increase the profile of Fairtrade in Kenilworth, to celebrate our success and hopefully continue to have a positive impact on the lives of many people in developing countries.

Our renewal application is due in a year's time so the work will go on. We're delighted that since our application was sent to the Fairtrade Foundation, we have already signed up a number of additional supporters, including Kenilworth Castle Tea Rooms, St Nicholas and St Barnabas Church, St Francis of Assisi and St Barnabas Church, St Nicholas Primary School, Marion Shaw's Boutique, Margaret Hills Health Foods, Heavenly FX, The Priory Theatre and Greggs - and we look forward to adding more in the months to come.

Fairtrade Fortnight ended with the announcement of the winner of the Fairtrade Town Trail competition. More than 60 people entered the competition to solve cryptic clues, taking them to 15 local business supporting Fairtrade. The winner of the competition, a pupil at Clinton Primary School, received a hamper of Fairtrade products, kindly donated by Sainsbury’s.

The hamper included tea, coffee, sugar, wine, cotton kitchen items and two bunches of Fairtrade roses.

The lucky winner also received a Dubble Easter egg from his headteacher, who supported Fairtrade Fortnight by encouraging pupils to take partin the Fairtrade Town Trail.

Fairtrade Fortnight ended with evidence of growing support for the initiative in Kenilworth.
Hundreds of people in the town, from residents to local businesses and schools and churches, all took part in the fortnight to raise awareness of Fairtrade.

We have been busy encouraging businesses in our town to support Fairtrade, and there are now quite a few that do! To make it easier for you to find Fairtrade products when you're shopping in Kenilworth, we have produced a directory which you view or download here:

Click to Download the Directory

Fairtrade fortnight runs from Saturday 23 February to Saturday March 8th.

During this time, we are holding the following public events:

• We will be handing out publicity in Talisman Square on Saturday 23 February, the first day of Fairtrade Fortnight, from 10 to 2. We will have both national promotional material from the Fairtrade Foundation and our own local directory of Fairtrade products and supporters. The Mayor is coming along, why don't you come too?


• We are running a Fairtrade Town Trail to take place through the whole two weeks. This will be a series of clues to find Fairtrade shops, cafes or businesses in Kenilworth. Each will display in their window a picture of a Fairtrade product that they use or supply. The aim of the quiz will be to identify each of these outlets and products and post the results back in a box in Sainsbury’s, who are kindly providing a Fairtrade hamper as a prize. Download the quiz now.


• The Olive Tree Deli on Albion Street will be holding an event on Saturday March 8th to celebrate the opening of their new Fairtrade café. There will be live music from 10 to 2, Fairtrade tea and coffee and samples from other local suppliers to the deli.

At a special event at the Waverley Day Centre on Thursday 29 November, a number of businesses, schools and church representatives were presented with their certificates after registering as supporting Fairtrade. The Mayor Councillor Pat Ryan presented certificates to a number of people, businesses and organisations including Kenilworth Teapot, the Kenilworth Weekly News, Sainsbury’s, St John’s Church, Thresher, Kenilworth Methodist Church, the Mothers Union and Abbey Hill United Reformed Church, to name a few. All businesses and organisations have swapped their normal tea, coffee and other products to Fairtrade ones, earning them the status.

The campaign for a Fairtrade Kenilworth recently held a stall at the King's Table coffee morning. Lots of people expressed interest on the fairtrade products displayed, making it an overwhelming success!

The Kenilworth Weekly News are publishing an article on the campaign to gain Kenilworth Fairtrade status. You can read the online version here.

Thought that you would all be pleased to know that at Thursday's Town Assembly meeting there was unanimous support for seeking FairTrade status for Kenilworth. David Wheeler did a great job of introducing the topic - many thanks.

The Town Council has agreed to have a formal vote on the issue at their next meeting.

Meanwhile, the Kenilworth Weekly News plan to do a full page spread on the subject for next week's issue. A photographer and reporter will interview us to find out more about FairTrade and how best to proceed. They also have plans to survey local residents and shopkeepers for their views.

The following is an outline of what David Wheeler will propose to the Council of Kenilworth Town Assembly Meeting on Thursday, May 11th:

The idea of fairness is one which I would like to think my town council supports.

It would be good to live in a community where fairness is the basis of all dealings and relationships.

One expression of this idea is the Fairtrade town.

The purpose of a Fairtrade Town is to contribute to the Fairtrade Foundation’s aim of tackling poverty by enabling disadvantaged producers from poor countries to receive a better deal, through encouraging support for the FAIRTRADE Mark.

In order to fulfil this aim by becoming a Fairtrade Town, the following five goals must be realised. When they are, a signed and dated certificate will be presented by the Fairtrade Foundation. The required goals are as follows:

1. Local Council passes a resolution supporting Fairtrade, and agrees to serve Fairtrade tea and coffee at its meetings and in its offices and canteens.

2. A selection of at least two Fairtrade products is readily available in the area’s shops and local cafes/catering establishments. Targets are given and depend on the population of the town. For Kenilworth the targets are :

5 retail outlets marketing Fairtrade products.
3 catering outlets serving Fairtrade products.

3. Fairtrade products are used by a number of local workplaces (estate agents, hairdressers, etc) and community organisations (churches, schools, etc).

4. Attract media coverage and popular support for the campaign.

5. A local Fairtrade steering group is convened to ensure continued commitment to its Fairtrade Town status.

Visit the Fairtrade website for more about becoming a fairtrade town.

David Wheeler, on behalf of a St. John's Church house group will suggest the following resolution:

The Council aims to be recognised by the residents and business community of Kenilworth Town, Kenilworth Town Council suppliers, Kenilworth Town Council employees and other local authorities as a town council that actively supports and promotes the concept of Fairtrade, ensuring that producers from developing countries get a fair price for their goods and labour. The Council therefore resolves to:

• Promote awareness of Fairtrade issues, and make publicity and educational information available to local people concerning the worldwide impact of unfair trade and the opportunities that Fairtrade provides to promote sustainable development.

• Investigate the Council’s own purchasing policies such as those of its suppliers and contractors and purchase Fairtrade where possible.

• Consider buying Fairtrade products, such as those carrying a FAIRTRADE mark, as they become available.

• Promote Fairtrade issues and practices amongst local businesses, commercial and other organisations.

• Develop a strategy to make the Council a Fairtrade council.

There is a Council of Kenilworth Town Assembly Meeting this Thursday (11th) at 7pm. It will be at the Council house, Southbank Rd.

The following question will be raised:

"Will the Town Council encourage Kenilworth to become a Fairtrade Town and in so doing come into line with the growing number of Councils throughout the country that have?"

Sue Powell of the Chamber of Commerce has not yet put this to a vote at a Chamber of Commerce meeting but is still happy to raise it at a later meeting of the Chamber - a positive outcome from the Council may prod things along as she has been invited to the meeting on Thursday.

It would be good if as many of us as are able can attend on Thursday to offer encouragement and support.

Hi Everyone,

I saw this article on the BBC News website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4964152.stm