Evesham Fairtrade Fortnight
Caroline Price
On March 10th, our stallholders will include Caroline Price of Peruse who sells gifts, scarves, accessories and jewellery. Caroline says
“I started selling Fair Trade lovelies about five years ago as a direct result of hearing a programme on the radio about how supermarkets could afford to sell really, really cheap clothes. I guess we all knew, deep down, that someone, somewhere was being exploited – but the programme really shocked and upset me – it made me cry when I heard about children as young as six working in sweatshops. As a mum myself I decided I had to do something. I quit my job and started to see what I could do. Thank you for buying Fair Trade. We can make a difference.”
Other stalls at the Fair include Green Lids of Pershore, run by Kirsty Chippendale – who has been selling Fairtrade hats for several years and Plush Chocolates (run by Jen and Sarah from Chipping Norton) which makes luxury chocolates including Easter eggs. Their website says “With over 14 years combined experience working for Oxfam, we are passionate about making life better for others and overcoming poverty through trade. We are so proud to have played a part in making FT products readily accessible. After leaving Oxfam to set up Plush Chocolates in 2008, we wanted to combine our love of chocolate with improving the lives of the producers of what we sell”.
Then there is Team-Business run by Jacque Namanya originally from Uganda, now from Pershore, who sells handmade African crafts, textiles and jewellery on Pershore Market and MAHOUTS, run by Sarah Blaine, on the High Street in Pershore selling textiles, furniture, homewares & gifts. MAHOUTS works directly with skilled craftspeople in Thailand.
Quotation from Mahouts website:
“Here at MAHOUTS we wish to invest in the future of the communities we work with. Part of the inspiration behind MAHOUTS was time spent as a family working with Asian elephants and their mahouts and families in Thailand. We are very proud to be able to stock certain items made by projects supporting the elephants and individual mahouts and their wives. These products have been bought at a fair price and 100 per cent of the profit from these items will be sent back to the projects or the individual mahouts and their families.”
Finally there is The Traidcraft Shop run by Ros Kane, based at Evesham Methodist Church but also supplying other churches in the Vale area with FT foodstuffs, cards and gifts. All will be present, along with Midcounties Co-op, which is sponsoring the Fair Trade Fair, at the Methodist Church, by the Workman Bridge on Saturday March 10th, 10.30 am till 4 pm. There will also be activities for children and FT refreshments served throughout the day.
Clare Bostle
Website addresses for links to Fair stallholders
Other useful website links
“I started selling Fair Trade lovelies about five years ago as a direct result of hearing a programme on the radio about how supermarkets could afford to sell really, really cheap clothes. I guess we all knew, deep down, that someone, somewhere was being exploited – but the programme really shocked and upset me – it made me cry when I heard about children as young as six working in sweatshops. As a mum myself I decided I had to do something. I quit my job and started to see what I could do. Thank you for buying Fair Trade. We can make a difference.”
Other stalls at the Fair include Green Lids of Pershore, run by Kirsty Chippendale – who has been selling Fairtrade hats for several years and Plush Chocolates (run by Jen and Sarah from Chipping Norton) which makes luxury chocolates including Easter eggs. Their website says “With over 14 years combined experience working for Oxfam, we are passionate about making life better for others and overcoming poverty through trade. We are so proud to have played a part in making FT products readily accessible. After leaving Oxfam to set up Plush Chocolates in 2008, we wanted to combine our love of chocolate with improving the lives of the producers of what we sell”.
Then there is Team-Business run by Jacque Namanya originally from Uganda, now from Pershore, who sells handmade African crafts, textiles and jewellery on Pershore Market and MAHOUTS, run by Sarah Blaine, on the High Street in Pershore selling textiles, furniture, homewares & gifts. MAHOUTS works directly with skilled craftspeople in Thailand.
Quotation from Mahouts website:
“Here at MAHOUTS we wish to invest in the future of the communities we work with. Part of the inspiration behind MAHOUTS was time spent as a family working with Asian elephants and their mahouts and families in Thailand. We are very proud to be able to stock certain items made by projects supporting the elephants and individual mahouts and their wives. These products have been bought at a fair price and 100 per cent of the profit from these items will be sent back to the projects or the individual mahouts and their families.”
Finally there is The Traidcraft Shop run by Ros Kane, based at Evesham Methodist Church but also supplying other churches in the Vale area with FT foodstuffs, cards and gifts. All will be present, along with Midcounties Co-op, which is sponsoring the Fair Trade Fair, at the Methodist Church, by the Workman Bridge on Saturday March 10th, 10.30 am till 4 pm. There will also be activities for children and FT refreshments served throughout the day.
Clare Bostle
Website addresses for links to Fair stallholders
- www.perusefairtrade.co.uk
- www.plushchocolates.co.uk
- www.mahouts.co.uk
- www.traidcraft.co.uk
- http://www.midcounties.coop
Other useful website links
