Charnwood Borough Council - Leading in Leicestershire

Charnwood Borough Council is off to a shining start as one of few to be awarded Fairtrade status by welcoming a Ugandan tea-producer called Silver Kasoro-Atwoki to a celebratory event on Wednesday, March 8.

Silver, who is touring the UK as part of Fairtrade Fortnight, will visit Council Offices before going on to the Loughborough Town Hall, where the certificate confirming the Borough’s achievement will be presented. Silver will then speak about how and why Fairtrade has improved not just his and his families lives but his whole community.

Fairtrade status, which is awarded by the Fairtrade Foundation, was achieved when five key goals were met. These goals included passing a resolution to use Fairtrade products at all Council meetings and promote and establish Fairtrade products being sold in local shops, restaurants and cafes.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Max Hunt, said: “Achieving Fairtrade Status is something we should all be proud of, it is a terrific achievement. Fairtrade can make such a huge difference to people’s lives, as we’ll see first-hand when we welcome Silver and his story.

“The work doesn’t stop now though, we’ve made a real commitment to promoting Fairtrade, it is one of our corporate aims and we have been using the products since 1998. We will continue to encourage and support businesses and organisations across the Borough to purchase Fairtrade.”

More than 32 shops and 20 cafes now stock Fairtrade goods and many more churches and businesses that serve the Borough have also committed to using the goods.

Jenny Drury, from Charnwood Action For Fairtrade (CAFF), who have worked in partnership with the Council to achieve the status, said: “A lot of hard work has gone into working with the shops and cafes to raise awareness about Fairtrade and the benefits that this brings to producers in developing countries.

“Making a difference to other people lives across the world by buying Fairtrade tea, coffee etc is such an easy thing to do and this award shows that’s what people in Charnwood want to do.”

Silver will be visiting Charnwood Council offices at 5pm for a short official reception, before going on to the Town Hall to meet local invited businesses and officials. Everybody is then invited to listen to Silver’s story starting at 7.30pm. Fairtrade goods will also be available to sample and purchase and Oxfam and the Fairtrade Council, who have organised Silver’s tour, will be on hand to provide information and related information.

Fairtrade products guarantee a better deal to producers in the Third World. Products can be called Fairtrade only when internationally agreed standards of trade have been met. These standards ensure that producers get a better deal for the products they grow and sell.