Wolverhampton Fairtrade Campaigners have recently been raising awareness of the importance of buying Fairtrade during the annual Fairtrade Fortnight - Mon Feb 27th – to Sun Mar 12th.
Collaborative events have included Fairtrade workshops for local schoolchildren hosted by Marnie Richards and Jeevan Kang from the Wolves Foundation, Fairtrade school assemblies, church stall events, presentations at Collins Aerospace, local radio broadcasts, blogs and poetry on WCRFM and an annual Pat McFadden MP Fairtrade Coffee morning ; all culminating in A Mayoral Fairtrade Reception hosted by the Mayor of Wolverhampton Sandra Samuels OBE whereby local schoolchildren showcased their art competition entries – this year the Theme was Design a Fairtrade Mascot - and the winner was a pupil form Uplands Junior School Finchfield.
Julia Farrell, Chair of the Wolverhampton City Fairtrade Partnership – a steering group that brings together local businesses, faith groups, local government, and schools - explains why it’s important to buy Fairtrade. “By buying products that carry the registered Fairtrade Mark it means that the producers receive a fair day pay for a fair day’s work plus a little extra which farmers and workers can spend on projects to benefit their own businesses and communities. The coffee and cocoa and chocolate that we love so much can’t be grown here due to our climate, and we are dependent on the farmers and producers to grow the things we love and, as campaigners, we believe that they deserve a decent income.
“Fairtrade Fortnight 2023 has been a great success and I am especially proud that for the first time ever all electronic road signage gateways to the city have been displaying that we are a Fairtrade city! I thank everyone involved for helping make Fairtrade Fortnight the great success it has been”.
Wolverhampton is in its 19th year of being a Fairtrade City – the first city across the UK to ever be granted this status. 2025 will be the 21st anniversary celebrations of being a Fairtrade City.
If anyone would like to learn more of how they can get involved all contacts can be found by visiting: Fairtrade in Wolverhampton | City Of Wolverhampton Council
Follow on Facebook – @Fairtrade in Wolverhampton
Follow on Twitter - Wolverhampton Fairtrade
There is a Fairtraid shop in the Mander Centre which can be found next to YMCA opposite Mander Centre Community Hub - just follow the floor signs – and you can also follow on Facebook page @Wolverhampton FairTraid
