Royal Welsh Showground

The sun shone yesterday. Today it was not so nice.
We were there to collect signatures for a petition. Wales is a Fairtrade country - in fact, I think it's the first Fairtrade country - and the Royal Welsh Show is one of the biggest events in Wales every year. The Show is not a Fairtrade show.
We chatted to a chap who worked at the Members Pavilion, and he said that they were serving Fairtrade tea and coffee there, but only because they happened to have it with them, rather than it being a matter of policy. He was quite happy to serve Fairtrade as a choice "but not the orange juice," he said. "That tastes horrible!"
He said that other shows made it a condition of the tendering process that the tea and coffee should be Fairtrade - the Eistedfodd is a Fairtrade show now, and that's the other really big Welsh event every year. Other, smaller shows are also often Fairtrade - but not the Royal Welsh. Not yet, at any rate.
That's what the petition was for - to persuade the organisers that there is public interest in the show becoming a Fairtrade show. Most people we approached were happy to sign, which was encouraging, and most of them knew about Fairtrade and what it stood for.
This has been a jointly organised petition amongst the different Fairtrade groups in Powys, with someone going to collect signatures every day of the show.
Pity about the weather.