Fairtrade Fortnight 2011 e-campaign

For the past week, Llanelli Fairtrade Group has been involved with the Fairtrade e-campaign - we promised to retweet all the tweets marked #fairtradefortnight which we saw on Twitter and so far, haven't too bad a job at keeping that promise. Retweeting is a great way to promote Faitrade and the activities of various fairtrade groups all over the world; it is also a fantatsic way of raising our profile too! We've gone from just a handful of followers to more than 120, and from a few tweets to more than 800! We've made connections with Fairtrade groups and activists all over the UK, including some of the most well-known fairtrade companies! Hopefully we can nurture those connections and create an e-campaign around making Llanelli a Faitrade Town with some momentum! Fingers crossed!

Hope you are all enjoying Fairtrade Fortnight so far! Please let us know of any events you are hosting/ involved with, and send some piccies our way! We'll tweet about them/you and stick some up on the blog for posterity!

Best,
Natasha

HAPPY FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT!

Happy Fairtrade Fortnight everyone!!!

Here in Llanelli, the Group will not be hosting any events but members of the committee will be attending local events and supporting Fairtrade Fortnight by promoting the Group, and hopefully encouraging people to join our campaign to make Llanelli a Fairtrade Town in 2011! There are loads of things going on all over the country - for Llanelli- and Carmarthenshire-based events, please visit the County Council's website to see the timetable (http://www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/English/environment/Sustainability/Documents/Fairtrade%20Fortnight%20Timetable.pdf); the Fairtrade Foundation's website also has a very comprehensive list of events happening all over the UK, with many community groups, universities and schools showing off their support for Fair Trade using bunting.

I think this years theme is particularly inspired - I was at a workshop on Trade Justice at the weekend and got to design my own little triangle to be displayed by the YMCA during FT Fortnight. It was such a fun thing to do... We all got a little bit lost in drawing and colouring, much like young children do, and were very disappointed when told we had to stop and move on! I'll do another post later about the actual day, but needless to say it was a FAB way to start FT Fortnight and certainly raised the profile of FT amongst those who attended... Well done YMCA Wales for putting together such an enjoyable and informative programme!

Emma Watson for People Tree...

To mark the start of Fairtrade Fortnight on Monday, People Tree has released the latest range from Harry Potter star, Emma Watson... And what a range! If you like your fashion fairtrade, and I do, Watson's designs will become a firm favourite...

I particularly like the 'I am not...' tee and the new line in dresses and skirts (http://www.peopletree.co.uk/). My only complaint is that they seem a little expensive in this time of austerity.... Now, I realise that if Fairtrade is to really make a difference then it has to encourage a move away from cheap, fast fashion but if it is to change the Primark-mindset, then prices need to be attractive to 'ordinary'  shoppers. People who understand Fair Trade issues will be more than willing to pay this premium but if the Fair Trade movement is to achieve its objectives it must appeal to more than those already converted and reach out to less discerning shoppers.

Natasha

Updates...

Just a short message...

I've updated our Blog List with some interesting international blogs on Fair Trade issues. Of particular interest is http://www.fairtradeinindia.blogspot.com/ which is written by Kate Meakin. Kate used to work for Fairtrade Wales as a Development Officer, and has attended several of the Group's meetings in the past. In fact, Kate was instrumental in re-establishing the Group in 2008 and without her help we might not have made the progress we have! Kate left Fairtrade Wales late last year and is now based with Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (FTAK) in India. Llanelli Fairtrade Group would like to wish Kate all the best for the future and assue her that we'll be reading her blog with interest...


Natasha Cody
***********
Secretary - Llanelli Fairtrade Group

It's late but... Happy New Year!

Apologies for the lack of posting since November - with the Christmas festivities and a long holiday in Sri Lanka, time has just escaped me. Anyways, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011 WILL be the year Llanelli becomes a Fairtrade Town... we are so, so close but with most of our members busy with campaigning for the Referendum on March 3rd, and preparing for the Assembly elections in May, we are finding ourselves a bit short of foot soldiers! If you are interested in helping Llanelli become a Fairtrade Town, please don't hesitate to contact us at fairtradellanelli@gmail.com. It would be so disappointing to come so far and miss out!


Natasha Cody
***********
Secretary - Llanelli Fairtrade Group

Celebrate... good times....

Last Thursday, members of the Llanelli Fairtrade Group took over The Colliers in Pwll (who sell lovely Fairtrade wine btw) to celebrate our second birthday... which also coincided with our Vice-Chair, Cllr Winston Lemon's birthday! A double celebration... whoohoo!

Lots of our members came to have a chat about Fairtrade issues, and discuss the Group's plans for Fairtrade Fortnight (keep tuned)... Winston's lovely wife and friends provided plenty of authentic Thai Fairtrade Banana Cake, and Keith, the pub's owner, allowed us use of the kitchen so we could welcome our members with lots of lovely Fairtrade Tea and Coffee! We raised a wonderful £25 from the raffle, which had a surprise celebrity Draw-er, Llanelli RFC and Scarlets Back Row, Rob McCusker!

Everyone had such a good time catching-up with one another and brainstorming that the Group are considering making such Nights a more regular feature, possibly alternating informal social events with our more formal, business-style meetings.... There'll be more discussion in this in the near future so please let us know what you think; in fact, we'd love to know if you have thoughts on events you'd like to see the Group host... Email us at fairtradellanelli@gmail.com, we want to hear from you! :)

Fairtrade Awareness Evening - This Thursday!!

This Thursday, 18th November, Llanelli Fairtrade Group are hosting a Fairtrade Awareness Evening at The Colliers, Pwll, Llanelli at 7.00PM!

We will be showing a selection of short films showing the benefits Fair Trade can bring to communities and producers in the developing world. There will also be a selection of Fairtrade products available for tasting, including homemade Fairtrade Banana Cake, Fairtrade wine, tea, coffee and chocolate!

Come along and help us celebrate our (sort of) 2nd birthday!

Hope to see you there!