Congratulations to Beverley Fairtrade
Congratulations to Beverley Fairtrade, which has once again successfully applied to renew its Fairtrade stat,us which will now be valid until June 2027.
The renewal has been delayed due to Covid, when communal activities ground to a halt and even shopping became a challenging activity.
During Covid, the group we continued to sell Fairtrade products with a home delivery service introduced with our chairman using his cycle. This enabled sales to continue.
In May this year they organised a Big Brew at Toll Gavel Church to raise money for a Fairtrade organisation called Transform Trade. Their focus is on transforming three key industries, tea, farming and fashion. They make people the priority not profit. Beverley Fairtrade raised £315 for them.
Later this year the group are planning to organise an event in the town to celebrate 30 years since the first Fairtrade products hit the supermarket shelves. The Fairtrade label has now become one of the most easily recognised logos and trusted ethical labels in the retail trade. Even after 30 years there is still a lot to do in obtaining a fairer deal for prices and fair treatment for farmers who are often under-represented and dominated by large corporations. Over the last 30 years environmental sustainability has become another key issue and helping farmers adapt to climate change as unreliable or changing weather patterns can have a devastating impact on those growing crops for a living.
Organisers would like to encourage more people in Beverley to join our town’s Fairtrade group. It is a simple way to make your voice heard and obtain greater knowledge about trading conditions and practices across the world. They are also very keen to support and learn about the impact of climate change for farmers and campaign for trade justice in trading arrangements and helping farmers obtain money to help them adapt. This has been a key feature in the annual COP climate meetings when key parties meet to learn about and address concerns about climate change.
There are over 500 Fairtrade community groups across the country similar to ours. How much they can do and how much they can achieve depends on having an active group of committed people to help and support this initiative.
If you would like to know more or consider joining , please get in touch with John Turner by emailing jetbev2@hotmail 2 or calling 07535 748513.
Beverley Town Council thanks John and everyone involved with Fairtrade for making it such an important part of our town and for receiving this prestigious renewal.