28 February 2017
Right now it’s Fairtrade Fortnight (27 Feb to 12 March) and this year the focus is on adding at little bit of Fairtrade into your break. Whether it’s a tea or coffee break, or an afternoon snack, could you be making a difference by the food and drink choices you are making? Maybe you could share the moment with others and take some time-out over a home-made Fairtrade cake?
It’s not just individuals, but churches too that can make the difference by becoming a Fairtrade Church. The Diocese is already a Fairtrade Diocese but to keep that status, it needs the help of churches to come on board too.
The Fairtrade Group at St Laurence-in-Thanet Team Ministry have been up and running for the last 6 months and they explained the simple steps they have been taking to think more ethically about the products they use, buy and sell.
‘We meet on a bi-monthly basis to discuss and plan ways in which the Fairtrade message can be given a higher profile in the parish.
In quite a short time we’ve been able to initiate and introduce several new features in the life of St Laurence Church, the main one being working towards achieving Fairtrade Church status through ensuring that all the tea, coffee and sugar used after the Sunday services is Fairtrade.
Our journey was given a real boost when Joy Sharman from the Canterbury District Fairtrade Network came and spoke at our Harvest service about Fairtrade and Traidcraft, and people’s positive response was really very encouraging.
Our first Fairtrade Stall took place at the St Laurence Summer Fair and was a great way to introduce people to the range of Fairtrade goods which are available; the raffles of hampers containing locally sourced Fairtrade goods were really popular too!
We now hold a monthly Fairtrade Stall on the third Sunday of each month following the morning services at St Laurence Church, and we’re seeing a regular group of people supporting Fairtrade through their purchasing of goods from our stall. We also contribute a ‘Fairtrade Update’ to the Parish magazine to keep everyone informed of stall dates and other Fairtrade news and information.
It’s still early days but we’ve been so encouraged by our positive start that we’re now looking excitedly ahead to events throughout 2017.’
If you would like more information about how to become a Fairtrade Church please contact the Communities and Partnerships Framework on 01227 459 401, via email on CSain-Ley-Berry-Gray@diocant.org, or by visiting the Fairtrade pages on the Diocesan website.