News Page
Click on the news links below to bring up full articles where available.
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- March 2020
Fairtrade Fortnight 2020 was a massive success this year, with a charity fundraising meal, churches and schools getting involved, and the return of the teddy trail around East Grinstead. We were really pleased with the suppport we had from across the town, and in particular the Town Council and Mayor Danny Favor.
Read more about what happened acorss the town here...
See the photos in the gallery here...
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- November 2019
Fairtrade Fortnight 2020 will run from Monday 24 February to Sunday 8 March. Calling all chocolate fans and fighters for fairness! In 2020 we will continue our mission to ensure that all farmers are paid fairly for their work and are able to earn a living income. The main focus will be on cocoa farmers in West Africa, especially the role women farmers play. Fairtrade EG will be running its Fairtrade Teddy Trail again, work with schools and churches to increase awareness, and has organised a special Fundraiser Meal and Quiz (together with EG Museum) on Monday 2 March at 7pm at The Ghurka (Woodcock Hill). £20 per head with £8 going to the charities.
See our events page for continued updates...
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- October 2019
During a visit to Palestine in October with the Amos Trust, Fairtrade EG Convenor, Sue Joy, was able to see at first hand the amazing difference Fairtrade is making to the life of Palestinian people under Occupation through fairly trading a variety of products. The Canaan Fairtrade Centre, near Nablus, was established in 2004 to help farmers most affected by the second Intifada who needed more stable farming options to survive. It started with five olive tree farmers working in a cooperative. The membership is now 1600! With funding from Tridos Bank, the Zaytoun company developed to offer a wide range of Palestinian artisan foods, and supported Palestinian farmers to pioneer the first Fairtrade certified olive oil in 2009, sold through the UK market. In addition to Olive Oil production the Centre handles almonds, dates, spices and Maftoul. See the product range at www.zaytoun.org
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- October 2019
Fairtrade Resolution: at its meeting held on 7 October 2019, the East Grinstead Town Council passed a Resolution that it supports supports the Fairtrade movement and will demonstrate this by:
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- Renewing its commitment to achieve ‘Fairtrade Community’ status
- Support Fairtrade EG by sharing their events publicity especially during Fairtrade Fortnight
- Serve Fairtrade tea and coffee at Council meetings and where provided for hirers
- Support local Fairtrade Schools and Churches and the community by attending events such as the Big Brew or others throughout the year when possible
- Ensure that Fairtrade Wine is included in the selection available in the Town Mayor’s Parlour.
- Include Fairtrade suppliers where possible when advertising contracts
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- Autumn 2019
The FAIRTRADE Mark is 25 years old. Over a generation, the FAIRTRADE Mark has enabled millions of farmers and workers to get a fairer deal for their hard day's work. This little Mark has had a big impact on how shoppers and companies view products, and the people behind them
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- May 2019
Fairtrade EG welcomes our new town Councillor Liz Bennett to the Group, as a successor to Norman Mockford who served from May 2018/May 2019 - thanks Norman. Liz has long been a supporter of our Group and Fairtrade for many years and hopes to be fully involved in Fairtrade Fortnight 2020. Liz is also a West Sussex County Councillor which means she knows about West Sussex being a Fairtrade County as well as what is happening locally in our town.
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- March 2019
Fairtrade Fortnight was a great success. The Charity Meal and Quiz raised £655 for us and the EG Museum, and our share was donated to the Fairtrade Foundation. There were also three winners of the Teddy Trail, who each won a Fairtrade Easter egg.
Read about all the events that took place here...
See photos in the gallery here...
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- 10th February 2019
Fairtrade EG is delighted to announce it's programme of events for Fairtrade Fortnight 2019, which will begin on 25th Feb. This year will see the return of the Fairtrade Teddy Bear hunt! For a full run-down of activities, head to our Events page.
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- 9th January 2019
In early December Fairtrade EG and BALA Sport were invited to a meeting of EG Sports Council to explain the concept behind Fairtrade sports balls which are made in Sialkot the Punjab area of Pakistan where 70% of the world's hand stitched footballs are made. Angus Coull explained that the men and women who make BALA Sport balls do so in safe working conditions with access to union representation, are paid fairly and there is no child labour. Workers also receive an additional 10% Fairtrade Premium which has been used to fund free eye and diabetes tests, school books, free safe transport to and from work, and water purification plants for the use of the whole community, not just factory workers. There was a great deal of interest shown by Council members.
Locally both Imberhorne School and St Peter's Catholic Primary School use Fairtrade BALA footballs so Fairtrade EG hopes other schools and clubs will follow suit very soon. Both Imberhorne and St Peter's are Fairtrade Achiever Schools.
- Angus Coull of BALA Sport with Town Mayor, Rex Whittaker, Richard Tramontin, Chair of EG Town Football Club, and Steve Phillips from EG Meads FC. Further information from www.balasport.co.uk
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- 28th November 2018
Fairtrade Fortnight will return in 2019 from 25 February to 10 March. It’s the most important time of the year for us all to celebrate Fairtrade achievements, whilst encouraging further commitments from the public, companies and governments to take action for fairer trade. Next year, Fairtrade Fortnight will focus on cocoa. Farmers of this iconic Fairtrade product have seen prices crash to crisis levels in the last few years, particularly in West Africa where most cocoa is grown. The situation highlights in stark terms the scandal of unfair trade. We have a choice about whether we take a stand against this.
Many farmers – both men and women – are underpaid and exploited. That means they can’t earn enough for the basics many of us take for granted, including food, education and housing, because they don’t earn a living income. It’s even worse for the women who work in the fields and in the home. Despite the hard work they put in, they’re often overlooked and under-represented, and usually see even less of the money for their crop. They deserve more.
Watch this space for Fairtrade EG's plans locally!
Much has been happening on the Fairtrade front in East Grinstead in the first half of 2018, take a look at all our updates from the year so far in the below news page. From footballs and wine to county status and gold, there's been a lot to discuss!
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- 17th May 2018
Fairtrade West Sussex held their AGM today in Chichester, attended by Fairtraders and the Mayor alike, as well as WSCC councillors. The county is celebrating its Fairtrade status.
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- 19th March 2018
Fairtrade East Grinstead again joined forces with the EG Wine Circle to host a Fairtrade wine tasting evening, held at the Meridian Hall. Over 50 people attended, with a donation to Fairtrade EG's work.
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- 27th February 2018
Churches Together in East Grinstead held their AGM today, welcoming Fairtrade campaigner Greg Valerio, who spoke about the Fairtrade Gold initiative. This has tied in with the churches' work encouraging couples to use Fairtrade Gold wedding bands.
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- 15th January 2018
The Fairtrade Quiz Night was a great success with 104 participants: the worthy winners were Bootleggers of Dartmoor. The Fairtrade raffle was won by a local resident from Turners Hill. Thanks to everyone for their support as £1121 each was raised for Fairtrade EG and Age UK EG of which £1000 was match funded by Barclays Bank. Thanks to Tarana for the delicious meal and to Paul and Paulo from Fairtrade Lingfield and Dormansland who were great team as Quizmaster and Quizscorer.
Update: money raised from this event has now gone to providing Fairtrade footballs (made by Bala) to all the primary schools in East Grinstead, plus Felbridge School, and Sackville Secondary too.
Fairtrade EG's Convenor, Sue Joy, has submitted her annual report to the Town Council, summarising the latest activites and progress of the group. Fairtrade EG also hosted a Fairtrade event at a Council meeting...
West Sussex has been appointed as a Fairtrade County, after years of campaigning by local groups and a resolution passed by the WSCC.
Fairtrade East Grinstead has sent a letter to the East Grinstead Town Council, and attended a meeting of the council in July, to further promote our aims...
Today, Imberhorne School attended the National Supporters' Conference in London to run workshops for the Fairtrade Foundation...
Imberhorne School, East Grinstead, has won the Fairtrade Fortnight Award for Schools this year, in a decision announced last week, and for the second year running, recognising the school’s activities in March...
Imberhorne School, East Grinstead, was awarded last month with FairActive schools’ status from the Fairtrade Foundation, in recognition of their hard work promoting and fund-raising for Fairtrade...
Lingfield is to go bananas as they host their annual Quiz Night in Fairtrade Fortnight this year, with comments from the Chairman of the Lingfeild and Dormansland Fairtrade Group...
Imberhorne School's Christmas Markets and Fairtrade Student Audit have led them to achieve the FairAware school's status from the Fairtrade Foundation...
The Lingfield and Dormansland Fairtrade Group held their AGM and Fairtrade fayre at Lingfield Park Racecourse. Safia Minney, founder of People Tree clothing, was the guest speaker...
In London the Fairtrade Foundation hosted its 20th Birthday celebrations, launched with a video exploring the meaning of Fairtrade. Imberhorne School featured in this film, and Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening commented on the words of Henry Grub, the Imberhorne Fairtrade Steering Group's Chairman...
The Fairtrade Foundation has visited Imberhorne School to present the Margaret Demidecka Fairtrade Award and £350 to their Imberhorne Fairtrade Steering Group for their activities during Fairtrade Fortnight earlier this year...
