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Milestones in the Abergavenny Fair Trade Forum's History
CERTIFICATE PRESENTATION In July and we were back to the Mayor's Parlour for another significant milestone. The Forum was delighted that the new Mayor, Tony O'Donovan, agreed to present the first round of Certificates to 11 organisations who have pledged to support Fairtrade and to use or sell some Fairtrade products. The commitment of Oxfam which has been offering Abergavenny people Fairtrade goods since the early nineties and now has an extensive range of consumable and non-consumable Fairtrade products was praised.
THE FORUM MEET THE COUNTY COUNCILLORS Three Forum members made a presentation to the Bryn y Cwm Area Committee of the Monmouthshire County Council at their July meeting. The Councillors were very supportive and resolved to support the aims of the Forum and use Fairtrade refreshments at their meetings. It was also agreed that practical support from the Area office staff will also be made available to the Forum to support the promotion of Abergavenny as a Fairtrade Town. Councillors from areas beyond the town were encouraged to spread the message to community organisations and local shops and the Forum offered to give support and advice. Past Events FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT 2006 Fairtrade Producer Talk Oxfam Coffee Morning Waitrose Supermarket Stall Fairtrade in Local Schools King Henry Vlll Students Examine Fairtrade Issues In July 2006 Forum members took part in the local event acting as an information resource answering questions from the King Henry students at their Fairtrade Days. This event was part of the county wide sessions held for sixth formers at the four Monmouthshire comprehensive schools. One Pupil's Campaign - "KHS plays fair !" by Hannah Burch At KHS close on fifty students were jostling for a place in the canteen queue to buy chocolate bars from our profit-loving suppliers. And I realised- people don't mind paying a little bit extra for the things that they love. This made me think back to Quaker meeting where people were more than happy to pay for fair trade chocolate. I wondered if my peers would feel the same way and a couple of questions later I had my answer- my peers would definitely pay for fairly traded chocolate at school.
The next step was approaching the canteen staff. I went to
the school council first who were very enthusiastic about
the idea. They agreed that it was important to raise
awareness among our students. One of the sixth-formers
agreed to set up a meeting between the head of the canteen
staff, himself, and me. The meeting was a success! The head
of the canteen staff was very amenable and she took a
catalogue saying that they would gladly order Divine bars
alongside other chocolate. True to her word a couple of
weeks later boxes of divine bars appeared on sale along with
a sign advertising them as fair trade chocolate. They are a
little more expensive than other brands, but now KHS
students have the option to become ethical consumers, and
buy fair trade chocolate from our school canteen. Contact Us For more information about Abergavenny Fairtrade Forum please contact Katrina Gass Join the Campaign Send your name, address, phone number and email plus £5 subscription to: Katrina Gass, 1 Regent Street, Abergavenny, NP7 5BS You will then receive information about the regular Steering Group meetings.
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