SAFT Conference Report 2024

SAFT Conference 6th July 2024 at Lowestoft
 
Alan Muchal chaired the meeting and welcomed Stan Woods from Wiltshire Fairtrade and the Mayor of Lowestoft, Cllr Nasima Begum. The Mayor noted that it is the 30th anniversary of the Fairtrade mark this year and the 20th anniversary of Lowestoft becoming a Fairtrade town. She thanked us all for supporting retailers in our communities and for working together to make a transformative impact locally and worldwide.
 
Alan noted that Lowestoft was Suffolk’s first fairtrade town and thanked Lowestoft Council for their sponsorship. He also thanked members of Lowestoft and Beccles Fairtrade groups for their catering and organisation of the day’s event.
A video from SAFT Patron Patrick Kaberia was shown. He congratulated Lowestoft on their anniversary. He also showed us that on his farm bananas have been planted by the river so as not to disturb the soil and to protect the river. We will meet him again in September.
Alan reported that we have reached our fundraising targets for Patrick’s forthcoming visit and thanked Felixstowe Treasurer, Chris Billings, for being treasurer for the visit.
Alan also welcomed students from Sir John Leman school – supported by teachers Niall Riches and Kirsten Remmer – who are making the Fairtrade video for young people, to be released in the autumn. Felixstowe Council’s Youth Forum is also collaborating on the video. The Forum represents schools across Felixstowe and meets every two months. Trimley St Mary primary school is taking the lead for the Forum on this project. The brief for the video is on the SAFT website in the membership area – accessed via password Fairtrade99.
Groups are being encouraged to take pictures of young people talking about Fairtrade which can be used in the video, but it is essential to get parent or guardian consent to this. The proposed video is to be 8 minutes long. A second video in the form of a montage will be produced to ensure no one is left out. Charles Croydon suggested including football in the video. There has been a production problem with Bala Fairtrade footballs but the Ipswich Fairtrade Shop said they should be available soon. Footage of students playing ‘keepy uppy’ could be included in the second video.
Reports from member towns
Reports were circulated in advance so here are just a few points. The full reports from the member towns are reproduced at the end of this summary.
Lowestoft had felt the demise of Traidcraft but has found that Kingdom Coffee can supply many alternatives. At the recent general election hustings a question was asked of all candidates: Are you supporting Fairtrade? There are county council elections next year so there will be an opportunity to write to all candidates then.
Leiston is now included in the Foundation’s public liability insurance.
Beccles has delivered baskets of Fairtrade goods to school staffrooms with photos used widely in the local media. The twinning association will give Beccles Fairtrade chocolate to their French counterparts. Fairtrade town status was renewed in July. The group had a stand at a volunteer showcase and a tree in the Christmas tree festival. The new bespoke Fairtrade chocolate bars have been a big hit.
Framlingham was unable to attend the meeting. Alan noted they had received support from the town council and Steph’s work on social media is very strong with over a 1,000 followers on Instagram.
Bury St Edmunds. The new Mayor is keen on fairtrade, which bodes well for the future. Noted that of supermarkets, the one with the most Fairtrade products is Ocado and we are all encouraged to put a link to their site on our social media. In terms of directories of Fairtrade products available locally, it was noted that all high schools have reprographic departments and can print items at cost.
Sudbury has had some problems with the town council but is now ready to apply for Fairtrade town status.
Ipswich. Unfortunately the fairtrade town signs at the entrances to the town have been taken down and replaced with waterfront signs reflecting the council’s drive to bring business into the waterfront area. The group had a tree in the Christmas tree festivals with Fairtrade chocolate angels. The sellotape came unstuck, some of the angels fell down and mysteriously disappeared! These were replaced. It was noted that when churches do an eco audit, one of the questions on the questionnaire is, are you a Fairtrade town?
Ipswich Fairtrade Shop The shop is in Upper Brook Street near Sainsbury’s. The shop works hard to have attractive window display. Visitors from Beccles recently came in and the shop has also been visiting Northgate School where one of their directors spoke to 9 classes. Unfortunately sales are declining and the shop is currently making a loss but the shop is now online – feedback on the online shop website is requested. It is hoped that the addition of new residential properties will help. The shop has also been going out to set up stalls, eg in Felixstowe which are going well.
Felixstowe renewed its Fairtrade town status in September. There have been changes to the committee. Social media and publicity are core strengths. We are now helping with the SAFT videos and planning for Patrick’s visit in September.
Woodbridge has now turned a corner and is well underway.
Charles Croydon noted that he had asked Patrick if he is aware of certain schools in Kenya as Ipswich is looking into setting up twinning between local schools and Kenyan schools. Patrick has not replied and it was noted he has a very demanding job with the estate and running the his farm, with long hours. Patrick’s girls’ school is twinned with a school in Scotland. Patrick’s eldest daughter is at university in Nairobi so there could be a link made there.
Mike Gidney noted that SAFT was set up in 2016 and asked how it was going. It was agreed that the increase in collaboration and sharing of ideas which have resulted have been very helpful and there is a real spirit of solidarity.
Talk by Fairtrade Foundation Chief Executive Mike Gidney – 30 years of Fairtrade (NOTE: A video of Mike’s talk, in full, is available on the member section of the SAFT website.)
Fairtrade in the UK started in 1994 with three products – Cafe Direct, Clipper tea and Maja Gold chocolate, all of which are still Fairtrade certified. Organisations participating at the beginning included Oxfam, CAFOD, WIs, World Development Movement (which is now Global Justice Now), WTO and Christian Aid. It has been an uphill challenge and Mike congratulated Lowestoft on their achievements.
The world was a different place in 1994. Eurotunnel opened in November 1994. Women were ordained for the first time. There was the first episode of Friends. The biggest selling single of the year was Wet, Wet, Wet’s Love is All Around – it was the year of Four Weddings and a Funeral.
In trade, consumers had no sense of the producers and farmers of the goods they bought – the emphasis was on quality, price and brands. In cotton, buyers focused on buying better, cheaper and faster. There was no engagement in supply chains and companies acted with impunity eg Shell in Nigeria. Tea and coffee plantations, bananas and sugar were owned by land owners in rural areas where the population did not have access to any alternative employers. Some got rich. Others were marginalised. There was no consideration the world’s problems.
 
Now more companies have a commitment to sustainability. Coffee harvests are once a year and non-Fairtrade farmers are often only paid once a year so money runs out – in the months of the ‘big stomach’ or the ‘times of silence.’ Over the last 30 years, 70% of the time the world price was below the Fairtrade minimum price. There has been exploitative pricing and some of this continues.
We are now making progress – slowly. Farmers’ income is 30% to 50% better than before so they can invest in their farms. In order to be certified Fairtrade they have to show they are democratically accountable. Farming groups have 50% of the votes at the Fairtrade Global Assembly so farmers from Tajikistan to Ecuador can have a voice. The Fairtrade premium represents an extra 10% of income. Last year US $200 million of fairtrade premium was generated. Sainsbury’s now has a new chief executive who recognises the need to get closer to farmers to mitigate climate risks and human rights risks. It was the first supermarket to offer farmers a 3 year contract. Before it had only ever been one year. (Sainsbury’s is the 2nd biggest supermarket in the UK). Fairtrade groups are now involved in COP.
Now the Fairtrade Foundation is working on getting supermarket buyers to collaborate on fair trading practices, not just compete. It has obtained approval from the Competition and Markets Authority to do this. A pilot is underway with coffee, cocoa and bananas.
A question was asked as to whether a product has to have the Fairtrade mark to be considered fairly traded. Mike said we want to be inclusive so not necessarily: the movement for trade justice is bigger that the Fairtrade mark. We do need international working regulations to combat issues such as deforestation but it is important that we don’t punish the smallholders who did not clear the land but who are now using it – we need to work with those farmers. It is not right that the burden of proof that land is not deforested falls on these farmers. We need to pay them for this.
In the UK a third of bananas are now Fairtrade but only 4% of tea.
The CMA has a green claims code and the power to fine those it deems to be greenwashing. In the future, company directors will be liable and companies can be fined 4% of global turnover for ignoring the code. The Advertising Standards Authority is also looking at this.
A question was asked as to whether there has been an update to the film Black Gold about coffee. We don’t think so.
Stan said that Patrick’s beans and maize crops had been flooded so he has had to buy these in. It was noted that Fairtrade farmers were more resilient than non-fairtrade farmers during covid and helped their communities eg by distributing PPE.
 

SAFT Conference 2024 – Reports from member towns

Lowestoft

Recently our chair, Gill Taylor, stood down to be replaced by Mick Dobney. Gill devoted many years to supporting Fairtrade in Lowestoft, and was instrumental in the campaign to achieve Fairtrade town status.
In March of this year, we held our regular library event, which previously marked Fairtrade Fortnight, involving an exhibition of photographs from the last 20 years and information about FT both locally and globally, stalls selling fairly traded goods, and a cake stall to raise money for local campaigning.
We are currently putting together our Fairtrade Town renewal document and planning a celebratory event in mid-September to mark the 20th anniversary of Lowestoft’s Fairtrade Town status.
Jo Wilde

Leiston-cum-Sizewell

Leiston-cum-Sizewell were granted Fairtrade Town status in 2009 and this has been renewed on each application since then.

At their meeting on 4th July 2023, Leiston-cum-Sizewell Town Council renewed their commitment to Fairtrade by adopting a new Resolution. It was also agreed that Councillor David Dix will be the representative for the Town Council on the Fairtrade Town Steering Group.
Our Fairtrade Town Status was renewed for a period of three years in July 2023.
In April 2024 we were pleased to learn that Leiston-cum-Sizewell is now included in the Fairtrade Foundation’s Public Liability Insurance for Fairtrade Communities.
A Fairtrade Coffee Morning was held at The United Church Room on Saturday 24th May 2024 and was well attended. This event was planned to coincide with the time that the Foodbank was open at the Church, and free cups of Coffee / Tea and biscuits were offered to everyone. We plan to hold a similar event in August.
Future work of the Steering Group will include organising promotional events, increasing membership of the Steering Group and improving our online presence.
Ann Nunn Chair Leiston-cum-Sizewell Fairtrade Town Steering Group

Beccles
It would be honest to say that this year’s activities have been strongly flavoured with the taste of Fairtrade chocolate. The initiative to produce a bespoke Fairtrade chocolate bar for the town has taken up much of our time and energy, but the response to this from the Town Council and local people, businesses and organisations has certainly made it worthwhile. Nine regular venues in town now stock these, and the Beccles Twinning Association plan to give them to their French guests this summer.

The Town Council clearly felt that our aim of promoting Fairtrade aligned well with their role of promoting the town and organised our launch for us. Their support gave us easier access to media publicity. The Meaningful Chocolate Company, which produces these tourist bars for a range of venues across the country, has been helpful to deal with, as has the Fairtrade Town of Market Harborough who shared their experience with us. We are also grateful to Beccles Camera Club who provided the wrapper photo. A few bars are available to buy here today. We successfully renewed our Fairtrade status on July 29th 2023, and held our customary short presentation ceremony, handing over a copy of the Renewal Certificate to the Mayor at the September Full Council Meeting. We had a stand at the Town Council Volunteer Showcase in the Public Hall this Spring, which provided some useful contacts and publicity.

Ongoing Activities: *St. Michael’s Church runs a stall at their weekly coffee morning. *We continue to circulate news items to our Network of supporters via email. * We sponsor Fairtrade tea and coffee on a regular basis at Beccles Library, with attendant publicity. *We again decorated a Fairtrade Tree for the Christmas Tree Festival in Hungate Methodist and United Reformed Church.

Elizabeth Bracken

Framlingham

Being only a small town we don’t do any major events but go steadily through the year on a dripping tap basis! We successfully renewed our Fairtrade Town status this year. We continue with regular Pop-Up stalls in the church and at Community Events fairly regularly now that the town’s social life has largely recovered from The Plague. The centrally placed library provides storage space for the stock, and has a permanent top shelf ‘shop’ of Fairtrade items, with 10% going into the Friends of the Library funds. This is proving very popular. Sadly though, the demise of our main suppliers, Traidcraft, has made it more difficult to source stock. We work closely with the Christian Aid Group, particularly during Christian Aid Week and with the Friends of St Michael’s Church at their fund-raising events. We decorated a Fairtrade tree at the Christmas Tree Festival. Framlingham Library events all feature Fairtrade beverages and scrummy cakes made with Fairtrade ingredients. Fairtrade Fortnight has of course now moved to September and we have had an encouraging meeting with the Co-op management who are keen to support our planned events and competitions. Our facebook page is kept ticking over with 321 followers, and our instagram account on which we have put 297 posts, has now increased to 1,108 followers.

Steph Bennell Framlingham FT steering group co-ordinator

Bury St Edmunds

Our Fairtrade Town Directory, has been greatly received and has proven to be a success. They can be picked up at various venues across town, including The Apex, the Cathedral Information Hub, the Town Hall and at our East of England shop. We are hoping to award two more eateries with our ‘Proud to Support Fairtrade’, window sticker. Two of our Fairtrade letters, have been published in the Bury Free Press, and an article appeared in our local, monthly magazine, ‘The Flyer’. The growth of Fairtrade promotion, continues through our weekly stalls at St. Edmunds Church. We also hold them at the Cathedral, which has proved to be popular and at our bi-annual Coffee Morning at the Trinity Methodist Church. We included pre-sale ‘Eden’ Easter Eggs, this year, selling over 60 of them. Local taxi firms, have carried on supporting our Fairtrade flower planter, to greet travellers and visitors to town.

Each year we attend the annual Resident’s Town Council meeting, where this year we organised a display to advocate Fairtrade, with official Fairtrade Foundation marketing, examples of products and packaging, our town directory and the SAFT flyer. We were fortunate enough to meet the new town mayor, Diane Hind, who is happy to liaise with the Town Council, in pushing though our bid for Fairtrade town signage. We are continuing to work hard at building relationships with local schools, lost due to Covid.

An assembly was held for Guildhall Ffeoffment Community Primary School, to raise awareness of Fairtrade. In addition, to this, we spent a morning, with a class, ‘Making & Baking’ banana bread. A big thank you to, Richard Stainer for trying to assist Sudbury, in regaining their Fairtrade status, watch this space!

PLANS FOR THE YEAR: • To build on our conversation with Diane Hind, enabling us to work towards town signage • A Fairtrade meal and demo at St. Edmunds Church Crypt, May 2025 tbc • To source Fairtrade goods. Please use this link if you are also looking for Fairtrade products: www.neast.org.uk/fairtrade/wiki/doku.php?id=star Jo Wain

Sudbury

Thanks to the efforts of Richard Stainer and Churches Together in Sudbury, Sudbury Town Council has passed a resolution supporting Sudbury as a Fairtrade town. With the continuing support of the churches, the way is now clear for Sudbury to apply to renew its Fairtrade Town status.

Ipswich

The last year has seen our group regularly meet with a small but committed number of members.

There have been several highlights during the last year, here are some of them: We had our Fairtrade Town status renewed. This year it’s 16 years since we became a Fairtrade town. We held a celebration event with our Mayor at the Town Hall. We were joined on screen by Patrick who inspired everyone with his messages and gave us views over his tea farm. Suffolk college students made a delicious Fairtrade cake for the evening. East of England Co-op provided vouchers for our evening’s refreshments.

We entered a Christmas tree with decorations and Fairtrade chocolate angels in the Christmas Tree festival at St Mary -le- Tower church in our town centre. We have donated Fairtrade taster packs with tea, coffee etc to some churches and faith groups to encourage them to use Fairtrade. We have made an excellent link with St Elizabeth Hospice, visiting their procurement, catering and retail managers. We have also arranged for Duncan Gates from the Fairtrade Foundation’s Business Engagement team to go and speak at the hospice about taking Fairtrade even further within the hospice and their cafes and charity shops.

A good new contact has been made with University of Suffolk and we had a presence together with the Fair Trade shop at their Earth Day event. Our Twitter (now known as X) account has approximately 1026 followers. Some of our group members have emailed all the election candidates for Ipswich regarding them supporting Fairtrade and trade justice.

We are currently planning to welcome Patrick in September with plans for a visit to the Fair Trade shop, afternoon tea with the deputy Mayor and also an evening event. We strive to highlight to others the value and work of the Fair Trade Shop and support them as much as we can. We are fortunate to have Margaret and Anne as part of our group. We remain well supported by Ipswich Borough Council whose enduring commitment to Fairtrade continues year on year.

Things that we would like to improve: We would welcome more members to the group as there is a lot of work for us with a town as large as Ipswich. We continue to seek new champions for Fairtrade within our different communities. We are working to strengthen the contact with Ipswich Town Football Club. We would like to explore setting up Instagram, so watch this space!

Elaine Coltham, Chair, Ipswich Fairtrade Steering Group

Felixstowe

2023/2024 has been another good year, with the highlight being the renewal of our Fairtrade town status in September for another three years. We have also seen changes to our steering committee, with Robin Pattinson taking over from Alan Muchal, who had been in charge since the group was founded in 2007, as chairman and Stephen Wyatt stepping into the newly created post of vice chairman. We also have a new treasurer, with retired bank manager, Chris Billings taking over from our long serving treasurer, Iris Allsopp. Chris has also kindly taken on the role of treasurer for the SAFT Suffolk visit of Patrick Kaberia in Fairtrade Fortnight 2024.

Alan and Iris remain on the committee with Alan continuing to mastermind our publicity. We updated our shops and cafes leaflet in July and are now in the process of doing so again.

We have made progress with youth involvement, with our youth involvement lead Marianne Sherborn holding a workshop with the geography group at Felixstowe School and regular visits by Fairtrade Ted to Trimley St Mary primary school. Alan Muchal has also attended the youth forum at Felixstowe Town Council which has representatives from the local secondary school and who are involved with our work on a new schools video with Beccles for SAFT for later this year. There will also be a second video collage with music and no commentary.

We are also planning to hold school assemblies again for Fairtrade Fortnight as well as an exhibition at the Coop during the Fortnight. Alan has continued his excellent work on publicity with articles regularly appearing in the town council magazine, Spotlight on Felixstowe and the Felixstowe Flyer. Our social media presence is also growing, in no small measure thanks to Fairtrade Ted. We now have 329 followers on Facebook, 166 on Instagram and 30 on X.

We are now working on another Family Fun Day to take place on 21st September, the first one since 2020 due to Covid. This popular event takes place at the library with refreshments, games, a chocolate fountain and, we hope, a raffle as well as a poster competition and a spot the difference challenge.

Jenny Brabazon, Secretary, Felixstowe Fairtrade Forum

Woodbridge I’m sorry that we couldn’t raise a person to come to the conference. Unfortunately, there has been some ill health amongst our members.

Fairtrade for Woodbridge has had a busy year. Our website is running well and serves as a record of many of our efforts as well as offering information about purchasing Fairtrade goods in Woodbridge. As a small group we have looked at ways to piggyback onto existing events and have had a stand at the town Christmas fair and Earth Day in April, while providing Fairtrade Easter Eggs for the Tide Mill Easter egg Hunt. Again, we welcomed support from the Town Council. As well as information and chocolate tasters we ran Fairtrade raffles at these events, which raised funds and gave us a chance to recruit interested people to the group.

St Mary’s shop were a great help joining us at Earth Day to sell a range of Fairtrade products. We have been grateful for the help from ‘Choose Woodbridge’, the local retailers’ association who have publicised us. The Town Council have given us money to purchase our eye-catching sail-flag to use at events. We have also raised enough for a second-hand gazebo which hopefully will keep us dry at future events.

The Suffolk Wildlife Local group have agreed to purchase Fairtrade at their meetings and publicise the fact. We have given a starter pack of tea and coffee to the Town Council for refreshments at their events. We are looking forward to visiting a local care home for a talk and with a view to getting them to use FT. Finally, we are looking forward to welcoming Patrick for lunch in Woodbridge in September. Woodbridge Fairtrade group send you their best wishes for a successful conference and celebration in Lowestoft.

Chris Adelson