Christmas Fair

This year's Fairtrade Christmas Fair will be held on Saturday 16th December, in the Buttermarket, from 10am to 4pm.
As usual, there will be fairly traded and local gifts, jewellery, textiles, tools and crafts.
There will also be Christmas songs from the Georgian choir at 11am, and from Hay Primary School Choir at 2pm.
The Fair will be officially opened by Hay's Town Crier.

Hay2Timbuktu Celebrates 10 Years of Twinning

Ten years ago, Hay was selected (the other finalists were York and Glastonbury) to become the UK twin of Timbuktu. The Mayor of Timbuktu and other dignitaries visited Hay, and several people from Hay went to Timbuktu.
The twinning is mainly focussed on health (with the Medics4Timbuktu) and education, particularly girls' education, but it's noteworthy for the Hay Fairtrade blog because one of the new trustees of Hay2Timbuktu is Louise Davies of Eighteen Rabbit, who also does a lot of work on the Fairtrade committee.
The report on the Hay2Timbuktu AGM can be found at the Life in Hay blog - and Fairtrade wine from the Co-op was served during the evening!

Community Fair

Fairtrade Hay is one of seven local groups squeezed into the Buttermarket today. In fact, they're a sort of 3-in-1 group, with silver jewellery from Timbuktu on one end, manned by Chris Armstrong, Fairtrade information in the middle, looked after by Jo Eliot, and Palestinian goods on the far end from Zaytoun.

I stocked up on their excellent olive oil. The lady there also had quite a bit of traditional Palestinian cross stitch work on display, made into pouches, cushion covers and so on. They seem quite expensive at first glance, until you appreciate how much work and time has gone into making them - and they last for years! I have a very hard wearing purse I bought from the same lady some years ago at one of the Clifford Craft Fairs. They also have olive oil soap.

Buttermarket - Fairtrade Fair

The date of the next Fairtrade Fair is Saturday, 19th August, at the Buttermarket. Zaytoun will be there, and there will be jewellery and plants for sale. Fairtrade Hay will have an information stall, and Fairtrade members will be there to discuss the issues of Fairtrade and Brexit (yes, Brexit will have an impact on Fairtrade issues), and the recent decision by Sainsbury's to set up their own fairly traded label in competition with the Fairtrade logo. Or, of course, any other subjects members of the public want to talk about.

Meanwhile, Jo Eliot is planning to move to Portugal in the near future, which will leave the Fairtrade committee without a Chair and a Treasurer. So new members are being keenly sought! Jo has done huge amounts for the Fairtrade group, and will be sorely missed!

Watering Down the Fairtrade Label?

So Sainsbury's doesn't seem to like the Fairtrade label, and wants to set up its own scheme instead. The Fairtrade logo is well known now, and well understood, and this would only muddy the waters. It also seems to have problems in the making of decisions on community investments, an important part of the Fairtrade system. Under the Sainsbury's scheme it seems that the decisions on what the community premium is spent on will be made in London, rather than by the communities themselves. There is a petition at change.org objecting to the Sainsbury's scheme.

Meanwhile, Fairtrade Hay will be in the Buttermarket in Hay at the community event on Saturday 19th August. The Fairtrade stall will have lots of information about Fairtrade, plus Zaytoun products from Palestine, including their wonderful olive oil.

Open Garden at Montpelier Cottage

As part of the National Open Garden Scheme, Montpelier Cottage in Brilley is opening its gates to the public on Sunday 21st May from 2pm to 5pm. The entrance fee is £5 for adults and children free - and there's a lot to see up there, since Noel Kingsbury, who created the garden, is quite well known in gardening circles.
Refreshments will be sold in aid of Fairtrade, of course. Dogs are welcome, and there will be plants for sale.

Fairtrade Goes to Parliament

Jo Eliot, of Fairtrade Hay, was part of a delegation to the Houses of Parliament at the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight. There were Fairtrade representatives from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as people from the Co-op, and Traidcraft. They had gathered to talk to the All-Party Parliamentary Committee for Fairtrade.
Jo said she was surprised at how busy it was, with MPs coming and going all the time.
The Fairtrade Foundation made a presentation, and there was also a presentation from the Minister of International Development, Rory Stewart, who seemed very interested and well informed.
There was also a speaker from a coffee co-operative in Tanzania, telling the MPs how Fairtrade is helping his community.
The Parliamentary Committees are where a lot of the important work of the House is done, so it was a very positive step for them to invite Fairtrade representatives and listen to what they had to say.