Digley Ale Gets VIP Status at BT Tower Event

When the opportunity arose for The Fair Traders Cooperative to be part of a charity event for Freedom From Torture we could not have been happier to be involved with such a good cause. When we discovered that they wanted us to contribute items for goody bags  for 90 VIP guests , we saw a brilliant opportunity to reach this influential and caring group of people with our message , whilst supporting a worthwhile event. It was agreed that we would provide Digley Ale, a locally produced beer stocked by The Fair Traders Co-operative, each bottle accompanied by a label explaining more about the beer and the ethos of our enterprise.

On the 8th of August the event was held at the BT Tower in London to celebrate John McCarthy’s 20 years of freedom from Lebanon. Held on the anniversary of his release from captivity, the main event was a talk from John himself on his experiences and on how Freedom From Torture are helping victims such as himself to regain their lives after their life changing ordeals. With a full celebrity guest list as well as 500 tickets for the public sold, the event was set to be a big one, with people from all over the country coming to show their support for the charity.

As well as being a great occasion for us to promote our fabulous products, aims and values to a wider audience, including a selection of celebrity names and influential business leaders, for those attending the event was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the sights from one of the tallest buildings in London. Standing at 189 metres tall, the BT Tower in Central London is usually closed off to the public but was opened up to especially for ticket holders to this special event that included tea and cupcakes with a view like none other!

In addition to providing Digley Ale for the VIP goody bags Freedom from Torture also distributed our leaflets (complete with a free Clipper Tea bag!) to the 500 paying guests and The Fair Traders Cooperative is to be featured in upcoming issues of The Survivor and several other publications which will be circulated to around 45,000 people! We could not have asked for a more fantastic publicity opportunity and would like to thank Freedom From Torture for involving us.

For more information on Freedom for Torture and the BT Tower event itself, please go to www.freedom fromtorture.org or follow them on Facebook and Twitter and (as always!) all our products including Digley Ale can be found on our online shop.

A Journey into the lives at the heart of Danusha Jewellery

The Road King trundles across the Rapti Bridge, greasy axles turning, tassled wing mirrors catching the light. We’ve been behind him for twenty minutes now, trying to squeeze past as we make our way down the East West Highway towards our workshop, just outside Bardibas. It was just before 7am when we left Kathmandu, weaving up and out, over the lip of the valley, following the Trisuli river on its way down to the flatlands. With any luck we’ll make it to our destination before nightfall.

Since our last trip to Nepal things have moved on for Danusha. We’ve got a business plan in place (almost) and we’re just about ready to reveal our logo. We’ve also built relationships with shops and organisations like The Fair Traders Co-operative and we’re really grateful for such fantastic support. We like The FTC so much that we’re going to buy a share for Danusha as we believe in reciprocity.

The Danusha workshop is based at Lalgadh Hospital on Nepal’s south eastern plains which run along the Indian border. This beautiful area is largely undeveloped and a high proportion of the population live on or below the poverty line.

The project began in June 2008, in response to a need to provide training for women whose lives had been affected by leprosy. Though easily treatable, there’s still a lot of stigma associated with leprosy, so sufferers and their families may be ostracised and find it difficult to gain employment. We set up Danusha to address this issue and help make a positive difference.

Initially ten women received training in simple jewellery making. Since then they’ve received further training and now make jewellery for us to sell in the UK. They receive a fair wage and training in health and hygiene, basic literacy and personal development and receive good food and accommodation while they’re on site.

We love the fact that each piece of jewellery comes with a story which we’re able to share with our customers. Lots of people have commented that knowing something about the person who made their jewellery helps make it special, unlike something generic and mass produced from a chain store.

Recently we got one of our staff, Rekha, to tell us a little bit about her life. A beautiful young woman, Rekha is probably in her early twenties, though she doesn’t know her exact age. She lives with her husband, Sanjay, in a small village called Hariharpur in the area near Lalgadh. As well as working for Danusha, she and her husband run a snack stall at their local bazaar.

When Rekha was eight she burnt her left hand and foot, but worryingly didn’t feel any pain. She developed ulcers and went to a faith healer who couldn’t cure her. He referred her to Lalgadh Hospital where leprosy was diagnosed, though Rekah wasn’t told of this. Instead her father told her that she had a ‘big disease’ and needed to take medicine. After treatment it was Rekha’s stepmother who told her she had leprosy and that no one would want to marry her. Her stepmother refused to give Rekha food and was very unkind to her.

Counsellors at Lalgadh Hospital gave lots of support and encouragement and slowly the family situation improved. Rekha attended regular sessions at the hospital, and in 2009 she met and fell in love with Sanjay there. He was also receiving treatment for leprosy.

Rekha joined Danusha in 2010 and has really grown in confidence since then. She’s very creative, shows a lot of initiative and we’re delighted that she’s part of our project. Sanjay also works for Danusha and it’s lovely to see this couple so happy and content.

Rekha enjoys her work at Danusha. Her economic condition has improved, she’s saving money and can also make her own necklaces to sell on her snack stall.

With the support of organisations like The Fair Traders Co-operative we’re gradually developing a regular customer base here in the UK, enabling more people to own and enjoy Danusha jewellery and to help people like Rekha in the process.

We’ll be travelling back to Nepal in early October and can’t wait to see our Nepali friends and to develop the project a little further. And maybe we’ll see the Road King again on our travels.

Danusha jewellery is available online from The Fair Traders Co-operative

Family Fairtrade Festival – a first, and not the last!

As far as festivals go, The Fair Traders Cooperative’s ‘Family Fairtrade Festival’ has it all. It is the ultimate destination for families seeking fun and adventure within an ethical setting, with more child-friendly activities than you can shake a stick at!

The Family Fairtrade Festival is an annual festival supported by The Fair Traders Cooperative. It is held in Holmfirth, and offers a range of family activities centred around an ethical theme, all packed into three fantastic hours of fun, frolicking and, of course, FAIRTRADE! The festival is timed each year to mark International Youth Day, and provides a day of ethical entertainment for our local young people and visitors alike.

The festival this year kicked off with a carnival of delights including music of the folk variety, accompanied by a female giant named Maximum, located in the Upper Bridge Quarter Gardens opposite The Fair Traders Cooperative, – this certainly grabbed the attention of passers by!

Held on Saturday 13th August, festival goers were treated to a host of activities. Children and grown ups alike were seen singing and jigging, juggling and poi-spinning, colouring and gluing! Circus tricks specialist David Steedman shared his love of the circus with festival goers, as he taught them how to juggle, swing poi and to use the diabolo. He also demonstrated his skills with such instruments, as crowds watched in awe at his ability to make circus skills look not only fun, but very easy to learn.

Families were invited to make their own paper windmill. These were very colourfully decorated, many with an eco-friendly and green theme. Whilst crafting, children were encouraged to think about wind energy as a resource, as they discussed what wind is, how it is made, and how it can be converted into electricity.

Little girls and boys waited patiently in line to have their faces painted, whilst brothers and sisters tried their hand at welly wanging. Helen Robinson, who came along with her family said, “I’m looking forward to the Family Fairtrade Festival of 2012 already. Welly wanging will be in the Olympics, just you wait and see.” The welly wanging was a very successful feature at this years festival, of which Madeleine Orme was the triumphant winner, her prize being an invitation for her and a friend to come along to a Fairtrade Fun on Fridays craft session, held in The Fair Traders Cooperative community room throughout the summer holidays.

Meanwhile, many children built and decorated one of the Paper Pod cardboard play-dens, sold at The Fair Traders Cooperative, with colourful and elaborate designs, both inside and out. Whilst sipping on a cup of Fairtrade tea, Rebekka Bojanowski one of the festival’s organisers, exclaimed, “The festival has been a big success! Bigger and better next year!!”Find out about other events at The Fair Traders Co-operative by checking the events calendar.

Sweet Appeal!

Our Supplier Needs You!  This was the plea that we received back in March from one of our close partners and suppliers.   One of his producers in India had just completed a very large order for an American customer, an order which took every inch of space in the workshop and had taken months to prepare, every piece handcrafted by a small team of workers.  It was at this point they received the shocking news that the order had been cancelled, a devastating blow after huge investments in labour, financially, and in terms of the business’s long term future.

Sweet Wrapper Planter

One of the key aims of The Fair Traders Co-operative is to support suppliers working in disadvantaged communities and this sort of plea was one to which we were happy to respond.  Not least, because the products themselves are amazing, unusual and score fantastically in our Sustainability Assessment.   So let us introduce you to this brand new range – planters and hanging baskets created almost entirely from reclaimed sweet wrappers.  Each glistening wrapper is hand twisted into a cord which is surprisingly strong, extraordinarily colourful and versatile enough to form around a wire basket to create stunning hanging baskets, plant pots and even bird houses.

Sweet Wrapper Hanging Basket

Artisan craftsmanship at Noah's Ark

The manufacturer is Noah’s Ark, a World Fair Trade Organisation Member, based in Moradabad.  Noah’s Ark has a long history of supporting the community where the factory is based.  They have already started three new schools locally, giving the opportunity for 350 children to go to school for the first time.  The products, which they produce for export, create jobs for 150 artisans.
The Fair Traders Co-operative seems to throng with keen gardeners, so we hope that these latest products will be gracing many member’s gardens over the summer; indeed we would love to see some photographs of planters and baskets overflowing with flowers which we can share with Noah’s Ark and their workers.    So… let’s get planting!

Inspired by Nature, Created by Hand

It is a very special thing when a woman in a remote village in Northern Thailand has put all her skill, pride and history into a pair of handcrafted silver earrings and I, over 3000 miles away in Yorkshire, have the chance to wear them. In fact, I am humbled by it. The history and the ethnic integrity of the Karen Hill tribe, who handcraft the Luna Tree Silver Jewellery range, are moving in themselves.

The Hill Tribe minorities of the mountainous regions of Northern Thailand are semi nomadic in origin coming from Tibet, Burma, China and Laos during the last 200 years or so. They are “fourth world” people neither being recognised as developing nations nor reflecting the existing political boundaries of countries. The self-identity of all the Hill Tribes, rather than being defined by borders, is one bound by links of kinship, customs, language, dress and spiritual beliefs. Due to the isolation of the Hill Tribes, customs and traditions remain unchanged and go back centuries. The Hill tribes, with the exception of the Yeo, do not write and therefore all their folklore, knowledge, wisdom, customs and the minute details of their lives are all passed by spoken word and committed to memory.

Five Hill Tribes are involved in silver production; these are the Karen, Akha, Lahu, Hmong and Lisu. It is the Karen however, who produce silver on a commercial scale and supply Luna Tree Jewellery. Their villages are situated north of Chiang Mai in the mountainous regions of Northern Thailand.

Traditionally, silver jewellery has been used as a store of wealth and as a means of adornment and beautification for the Hill Tribes. Silver jewellery proudly worn enhances financial security, signifies wealth, status and spirituality within the tribe. The Hill Tribe’s still occasionally use some silver in place of paper money, preferring something they consider retains its true value. On special occasions such as a birth or marriage silver is used for gifts and dowries.

The silver has a malleable quality and can be worked with surprising speed due to its purity and the skills of craftsmanship. Sterling silver in comparison is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper, which gives it a harder finish, which can only be worked by machine rather than hand tools. The purity of the Hill Tribe silver means it will tarnish less quickly than sterling and will need less regular polishing to retain its appeal.

The hand worked Hill Tribe 99.9% silver has a look, weight and feel all its own and offers the wearer an intimate connection directly back to the silversmith who produced it. Every piece is unique and stunningly beautiful due its handmade characteristics.

The inspiration for all the designs of the jewellery comes from nature. The Karen people live close to the natural world working as subsistence farmers and have a very spiritual connection with their land.

The village is constantly producing new designs and prototypes for future products. The silversmiths are extremely creative and enjoy the challenge of working in partnership with Luna Tree Jewellery on new pieces. Appreciating the true cultural value of their crafts enables their traditional livelihoods to be sustained; work and training is then available for the next generation and their tribal heritage can be preserved.

So, it is with a sense of responsibility that I will pick out my choice of jewellery from the Luna Tree range feeling as I do an overwhelming empathy with the craftsman or woman who made it.