Upcoming Fairtrade events
Corsham Eco Fair Saturday 20 April 10am – 2pm Come and visit our stall at the Eco Fair and learn how Fairtrade is helping farmers to farm sustainably and combat the effects of climate change.
Corsham 10k Run Sunday 21 April 10am -12 noon Our team will be helping to hand out Fairtrade bananas to runners!
Fairtrade Foundation’s 30th anniversary/ Fairtrade Fortnight 9 – 22 September /Kenyan tea farmer visit
This year sees the 30th anniversary of the Fairtrade Foundation. To mark the occasion Fairtrade Corsham and other local Fairtrade Towns are hoping to raise enough funds to bring Kenyan tea producer Patrick Kaberia to Wiltshire to tell his Fairtrade story, as part of Fairtrade Fortnight in September. The project is well under way! A big thank you to Corsham Town Council who have approved a grant to Fairtrade Corsham to further this project, and to Corsham Climate Action for agreeing to manage the funds. If you would like to help celebrate the Fairtrade Foundation’s anniversary or would like to get involved in the plans, then do get in touch with Stan Woods at chairman@calnefairtrade.org.uk.
Previous Fairtrade events
Christmas Lights Switch-On – Fairtrade Corsham had a stall in St Bart’s Church, with our Fairtrade inspired entry into the Christmas Tree festival.
Corsham Street Fair – Fairtrade Corsham had a successful stall at the Street Fair in September, showcasing Fairtrade products.
Fairtrade tea party – the team had a lovely tea party in July with homemade Fairtrade cakes and tea/coffee to celebrate Nikki Kenna’s last official day as Fairtrade Co-ordinator after 12 amazing years. Thanks to all her hard work, Fairtrade Corsham has continued to promote Fairtrade at Town Council events and in lots of other ways in Corsham. As no-one else has come forward to take over the role, the rest of the team will be sharing out duties. Plus, Cllr Tina Ellis has joined us as an additional Councillor representative (in addition to Cllr Jane Roberton) and Cllr Steve Abbott has offered to help with the renewal process for Fairtrade Corsham’s Community (Formerly Town) Status. We are looking for a secretary to take notes of meetings as well. If you would like to take on this role, please do get in touch.
Taste of Corsham A busy day at Corsham’s annual food and drink festival in June, one of our best food/drink sales ever!
Corsham 10k run Fairtrade Corsham had a very enjoyable morning on 23 April, helping to hand out Co-op Fairtrade bananas to runners after the Run! Well done to Sally for donning the banana costume, and to Jane and Jessica for helping too …
Fairtrade Fortnight event 2023
Corsham celebrated 10 years since achieving Fairtrade Town status at Fairtrade Corsham’s Fairtrade Fortnight event on Tuesday 21 February at The Pound. It was a huge success and one of our best events so far. As well as stalls, a fun Fairtrade quiz and birthday cakes made from Fairtrade ingredients, there was Co-op Fairtrade wine, a short clip from Patrick Kaberia, a Fairtrade tea farmer in Kenya, and the haunting, personal music of Amidou Diagne.
We raised £109.00 from the raffle of a hamper of Fairtrade goods kindly donated by the Co-op, which we will be sending to Patrick Kaberia to support his community. The event was also a celebration of Nikki Kenna’s 12 years as co-ordinator of the Fairtrade Corsham group, as she has decided to step down from the role.
Volunteers required – if you are interested in becoming a co-ordinator or in being a member of the group, please contact – nikki.kenna@icloud.com
Our Fairtrade Fortnight, Fairtrade @ The Pound Event is designed to give a better understanding of how choosing Fairtrade can help us achieve sustainability and equality worldwide. Kenyan tea planter Patrick Kaberia’s video message showed exactly how his community are working to produce Fairtrade tea in a way which is beneficial to the natural world and also to the families in his community. We know that if families have a secure income, if their children are educated and if there is gender equality within the pay structure and decision making, then those communities are less likely to seek refuge elsewhere, to engage in violence and are able to live sustainably.
Corsham became a Fairtrade Town in 2013
The Corsham Fairtrade group set out to make Corsham a Fairtrade Town, because we believe we should shop locally for local food and products where possible and Fairtrade products where we cannot. Fairtrade offers a fair trade premium to farmers and producers around the world for their goods eg coffee, chocolate, bananas, cotton – products we cannot produce locally.
The Fairtrade Group comprises representatives from local churches, schools, the Town Council and other community groups as well as Corsham Climate Action (previously Transcoco).
We were awarded Fairtrade status because we were able to demonstrate that Corsham is committed to using Fairtrade products in local retailers, food outlets, businesses, schools, churches and other community organisations.
We believe that Fairtrade brings benefits to Corsham because it:
- Gives us an identity with other Fairtrade Towns
- Helps brand Corsham as a vibrant community
- Demonstrates support for sustainable environmental work
- Shows that Corsham retailers, cafés and businesses care about communities and global society.