How to Support the Fairtrade City Project
Individuals and Families
Fair Trade is consumer driven movement,
so as a consumer you have the power to change the world for the better.
Here are 50 or so easy (?) ways to support Fair Trade:
1 Drink FAIRTRADE Tea and Coffee
Don't throw away your jar of Nescafe or Maxwell House, or Carte Noir,
but DO immediately go out and buy a jar of Cafe Direct Instant coffee.
When the old coffee is finished, ceremoniously re-cycle the jar or tin,
and then never again drink coffee unless it is FAIRTRADE labelled.
Do the same with Tea, convert to FAIRTRADE Teabags or Tea.
2 Write to Cafe Direct for an information pack
on the coffee or Tea that you are drinking, or contact Traidcraft,
or call in at your local Fair Trade Shop and ask for information on FAIRTRADE Products.
Learn why it is important to drink FAIRTRADE so when neighbours,
friends and relatives ask why your coffee and tea is so good
you can tell them why FAIRTRADE guarantees a better deal for Third World Producers.
3 Buy Cards and Gifts from your local Fairtrade Shop
Next time you are in York, visit Fairer World in Gillygate.
The cards are super, no smutty jokes or put-down humour, many have an ethnic theme.
And all of the products are fair trade.
Fair trade shops are very important.
- They are staffed by volunteers
- they provide outlets for craft items from family sized workshops
- they provide information and educational services
- they show the widest range of Fairtrade labelled products
4 Buy Fair Trade Online
Whilst it is important to buy from Fair Trade Shops, it is OK to buy online.
Here are some great websites:
Every purchase helps reduce poverty and give hope for the future.
5 - Buy Fairtrade labelled products at your local shop
First and Foremost, please choose consumable products bearing the Fairtrade label.
This step is a key to everything else that follows.
Look for:
the Fairtrade Label.
Check out our directory
of outlets, start with tea and coffee or chocolate and take it from there.
Rest assured that third world farmers benefit from this simple action.
6 - Make some "I would like to buy Fairtrade" cards
This is an example from the early days of the Fairtrade City Project:
A sheet of A4 160 gsm card makes 11 credit card sized cards.
7 Educate Yourself about Fairtrade Issues
Browse the websites
8 Spread the message
Please wear a Fair Trade lapel badge.
Look for ways of spreading Fair Trade at work, at church, down at the club, wherever.
If you need help, please contact us.
9 Write an article for Hull Daily Mail, Yorkshire Post, etc
Stuck for a theme? Bone up on the cost of coffee and what the farmer gets paid. Or try chocolate.
10 Get Involved in the Fairtrade Churches Project
Come to the next meeting to see what is going on.
11 Write letters to the editor
Getting Fairtrade into the media is a key to recognition of the brand.
Make the Fairtrade label famous !
12 Return to this website www.pchurch.org.uk/fthullchurches/index.html
News and views, events and records.
13 Gather a few friends and form a Fair Trade Action Group
then do something!
14 Get a Fair Trade Sale or Return Pack for Church.
Lay out a table with all the goods on display.
Invite folks round for a coffee and a little chat about what you are doing,
and then let them buy as they see fit.
You need to be clued up about the label, about FT food and beverages in general,
and about the producers of any craft items.
15 Contact your local MP
Ask what they are doing to support Fairtrade.
Talk to the manager in your local supermarket
Few managers have any power over their sales range.
But if they are aware that customers are interested they may
be able to promote Fairtrade labelled products.
17 See if your hairdresser is drinking Fairtrade coffee
(Careful now).
18 Ask at the newsagent if they can stock your favourite Fairtrade chocolate
If you are not sure which chocolate to go for, try the Divine chocolate 45gm bars,
this keeps the range down to a manageable level.
19 Contact Fairtrade Foundation
Get on the mailing list for their newsletter.
Purchase campaigning materials, posters, mugs, inflatable bananas.
20 Hold a Fairtrade Dinner
www.fairtradecookbook.org.uk
has hundreds of recipes containing Fairtrade ingredients.
21 Submit a FAIRTRADE recipe
to the Fair Trade Cook Book - The FAIRTRADE COOKBOOK .
22 Buy shares in Cafe Direct
23 Run a Traidcraft evening
Take a range of Traidcraft samples from the shop and a load of catalogues.
Talk about the work of Traidcraft in general and warn folks that you only have samples,
so they will need to order from the catalogue.
This works well in September / October in the run up to Christmas.
You can order via the shop, but a bit of admin (order forms) will be needed.
24 Have a FAIRTRADE theme evening
Coffee, chocolate, wood, the choice is yours.
Take plenty of the focus product, because you tend to sell that more than any other.
Do a talk about the theme so people can understand it better.
Coffee is the best as you can sample it as well as talk and sell.
(Wine would be good, but you would need a licence).
25 Have a games and action evening
The action part is once having got the message over, “what should people do”?
Answer is twofold,
- a) buy products from Supermarkets with FT label
- b) take some “I would like to buy Fairtrade” cards,
and drop them in the newsagent, greengrocer, café, restaurant, etc.
and there are lots of supporter ideas on this Fairtrade City Project website.
26 Have a Fairtrade Food party
Everyone brings a dish containing at least one FAIRTRADE ingredient.
The fairtrade cookbook
helps with the recipes.
Also, people can bring their recipes and you can make a party recipe book (if really keen).
27 Invest in Shared Interest
Click here to download a leaflet on Shared Interest.
Shared Interest
is a mutual society that uses deposits made by members of the public to fund microcredit loans in support of Fairtrade.
28 Hold an "Unfair Sports Day"
Get a bunch of youngsters and have:
- a) Unfair Egg and Spoon Race
- b) Unfair Tug of War
- c) Unfair Sack race
- d) etc
29 Hold a "FAIRTRADE Football Match"
You will need:
- 11 White T Shirts with black Fairtrade label
- 11 black T Shirts with a white Fairtrade label
- Two FAIRTRADE Labelled Footballs (You need a spare just in case)
- 23 Pairs "No Sweat Trainers" (25 if you have linespeople as well)
- FAIRTRADE Orange Juice in the break, plus FAIRTRADE Cookies
30 Hold an "UnFairtrade Football Match"
Just have more players in one team than the other.
31 Buy some Fair Trade Clothes
Here are a few suggestions:
32 Get some campaign materials for FAIRTRADE Fortnight
Visit the
Fairtrade Foundation, website.
Download the order form and send off for T Shirts, bananas, leaflets, posters, etc.
Then get an event organised and let us know at the Project Office.
33 Hold a FAIRTRADE Wine and Cheese evening
Pop down to the Co-op, get some red and some white, a few Water Biscuits or a biscuit selection. And some nice cheese.
Invite a few friends round. Enjoy.
34 Go Bananas
At your local Fair Trade shop or Co-op.
Get some yellow paper and cut out footsteps. Stick them on the pavement to lead to the shop.
At the shop door have some inflatable bananas.
Get the press down to ook at it and take a photo and do an interview.
Have a load of bananas on sale.
And some banana trade leaflets to give away.
35 Give Fairtrade Roses
If you have a girlfriend, or wife, or niece, or mother-in-law.
Choose to give them a bunch of Fairtrade Roses for their next special day.
Make it a double treat and give them a Traidcraft or Salay handmade card as well.
36 Fairtrade Sports - Passive
Go to the Co-op and get some Fairtrade Beer to drink with Fairtrade Snacks (from One World)
during your next TV Football session.
37 Fairtrade Sports - Active
Buy a Fairtrade football and join da kids in da street.
Even better buy a Fairtrade beach ball before your holidays.
38 Fairtrade Faith Group
If your church doesn't use Fairtrade Tea and Coffee - suggest that they do so.
If you church does use Fairtrade Tea and Coffee - suggest that they should incorporate Fairtrade in some aspect of worship.
If your church has a Fairtrade commitment (see above) suggest that the Church Council should apply to
FT Foundation for certification as a Fairtrade Church.
39 Hold a FAIRTRADE community BBQ
40 FAIRTRADE Family Fun Day/Carnival
with bouncy castles, street theatre
(there are FT and Christian theatre groups who may get involved).
41 Hold a FAIRTRADE Black tie dinner
42 Hold a FAIRTRADE Treasure Hunt
43 Hold aFAIRTRADE Its A Knockout competition
44 Hold a FAIRTRADE Drum Cafe
Run this in conjunction with Christian Aid.
45 Go out and buy some FAIRTRADE Chocolate
Nibble nibble munch munch
Fairtrade is always the best of the bunch.
46 Whilst eating some of the chocolate
bought under suggestion 45,
go online and buy a copy of the PaPaPaa DVD (£8).
47 Go out to the Coop
and buy some FAIRTRADE Peanuts.
48 Go out to the Coop again
and buy some FAIRTRADE Wine.
49 Contact Twin
and ask for a copy of the Judith's Story DVD (Peanut farming in Malawi).
50 Ask some friends round
- Nibble the nuts (suggestion 47)
- open the wine (suggestion 48)
- watch Judith's Story (49)
- have a coffee,
- watch the PaPaPaa DVD (46)
- and eat the chocolate (45).
Retailers
If you sell tea, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, sugar, cookies or wholefoods you have a part to play
by offering to your customers a Fairtrade choice.
If you do offer a Fair Trade / Fairtrade choice, please contact
the Fairtrade Churches so that we can mention you in the Fairtrade Directory.
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