The Parish Church of St Andrew; Kimbolton Road, Bedford
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Fair Trade Shop

Open Wednesday mornings 11.30am -12noon

St Andrew's has been granted 'Fairtrade Church' status.  We use Fair Trade Tea, Coffee and Sugar for all events and meetings run by the Church.

The shop stocks an exciting range of earrings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets, clothing a wide variety of food, beverages and stationery.

Fair Trade Wine

As many of you will know, we have sold fairly traded wine for a number of years. We are planning to take orders in late September and early October. Delivery would then be later on in October.

So this is what you do!

Have a little ponder now about the colour, country of origin, and quantity of wine that you may want to order. Some of the wines are featured on page 91 of the current Traidcraft catalogue (available from the shop in the foyer). There may well be slight variations in the new autumn catalogue coming out in August, and often Traidcraft introduces some “specials”, but you’ll get a good idea of what’s available.

Check those cellars!

We will produce a comprehensive order form which should be available from the beginning of September, and this will give you plenty of time to consider further. We know it’s impossible to buy all the wine you want for the year from us, but we can give you a good start!

We also realise that some wines bought in France or in UK supermarkets will be cheaper. However, we would encourage you to at least order a few from us as well. In this way you will help the wine growers whom we are trying to support. So get down in those cellars and start to think!

Holiday time

And talking about France, we have sarongs for the beach and lots of different tops and T-shirts. There are also bags of varying shapes, sizes and colours which are useful on holiday. Come and have a look!

Fairtrade News - 30th birthday

In 2009 we are celebrating Traidcraft’s 30th anniversary. Over the last 30 years, the company has transformed many, many lives, and its commitment to long - term relationships with producer groups makes a real difference. For many women this means clean water, education and food for their families, but for Firoza Begum, who joined one of the first Traidcraft producer groups, The Jute Works, in 1980, fair trade changed not only her life, but the lives of her daughter and granddaughter too.

Life-changing work

Thanks to a regular income, and helped by a loan from The Jute Works, Firoza and her husband, Hassan Ali, built a better life for themselves and their four children. Sadly, Firoza died in 2006, but her legacy is still changing lives in her village.

“With the money she made we changed our fate,” said Hassan Ali, her widower. “We made improvements and maintained all the expenses of the house and the education of our children – everything.”

Learning and teaching

That education meant Nargis, their daughter, was the first girl among the group members to attend school. After gaining a degree, she returned to the village to set up a school, which now has 6 teachers and 175 pupils.

“We are very proud of what my mother did,” Nargis said. “It would have been quite impossible for me to go to university if there was only my father’s income. I want to stay in the village and teach the children.” Nargis now has a daughter of her own. Zarin Rosny Provad, meaning ‘golden morning light’, was born in June 2006 – the third generation to benefit from fair trade. Traidcraft still buys from The Jute Works, for example the products on page 61 of the spring catalogue, so with your support we can all help more women like Firoza and Nargis achieve their full potential.

A great result

Well, we certainly haven’t been trading for thirty years, but the fairtrade fashion show held at the end of March was our 17th, and was very well received. Takings for the weekend amounted to £1,818 and since then we have had a number of related enquiries. Don’t worry if you weren’t able to make it, as there are now lots of new items in the foyer shop from Traidcraft as well as many other smaller importers! Please pop in for a browse and pick up catalogues to look at in comfort at home.

Fairtrade in North Bedfordshire

The North Bedfordshire Fairtrade Directory is now available for you to take away for yourselves and to give to anyone you think might be interested. North Bedfordshire has now been granted fairtrade status. This means that as an area we have reached the minimum standards required, NOT that we can sit back on our laurels and congratulate ourselves! It is really good news, and very encouraging, but we must continue to spread the word and encourage more people in our region to support fairtrade. Everyone thrives on encouragement, and we certainly appreciate your support.

 
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