2015 AGM & PRESENTATION - LITTLE THEATRE - 28TH APRIL 2015

Transcription

1 2015 AGM & PRESENTATION - LITTLE THEATRE - 28TH APRIL 2015 The evening started with a welcome to visitors including a glass of Co-op Fairtrade Wine. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The AGM meeting was divided into three parts 1. The Treasurer's Report : Angela Colburn reported on a year's healthy return. The group has been able to organise events and successfully cover costs, which include hire of venues, advertising etc. Some of the Group's funds have been invested in "Shared Interest" a UK cooperative which aims to form a vital link between UK social investors and fair trade organisations overseas needing finance to improve their livelihoods. You can find out more about the work of "Shared Interest" at : 2. The Chair's Annual Report was presented by Ruth Ford Chairs report Fairtrade AGM 2015 Seaford Fairtrade Group was started in Its aims were to promote awareness of Fairtrade as a means to raise standards of living amongst producers and workers in Developing countries, many of whom receive very low prices and wages for products which we in the Developed World demand and consume. The group actively promotes the issues of Fairtrade in our town and organises regular events. For the 7 years prior to the last AGM, Ralph Taylor had been the Chair. As people will probably know, Ralph very sadly died last summer he was actively involved in setting up the group, and his passion for fairness and justice for everyone has enabled the group to flourish. He will be very much missed in many parts of Seaford life, and in particular within this group. One World Week was celebrated in November with a Fairtrade meal and Quiz, for the fifth year, and so popular has this event become that tickets sold fast as soon as the details were advertised. 65 people packed St Leonards Hall and were treated to baked potatoes Chilli and salad and fairtrade wine, followed by a taxing and entertaining quiz. We opened Fairtrade Fortnight with a church service at St Lukes, where members were able to talk to the congregation about the importance of Fairtrade at two services, and hold a Traidcraft Stall. Then on March 7 th the Fairtrade Market was held at Clinton Halls from Lots of advertising resulted in over 200 people coming to sample the stalls and the Fairtrade goodies it was opened by Councillor Mark Brown who also drew the raffle, and around

2 12 stall holders had wonderful crafts and goods for sale from Asia, Africa and South America and nearer home. The event was reported in the local papers and was felt by all to be a successful event. Alongside these annual events, is the on-going work of the group. This includes Traidcraft stalls at churches and other events, such as the Women s World Day of prayer, we may be invited to. Although these are not about raising money but awareness, it is good that people see what sorts of goods are available. We have also continued to talk to individual shops and businesses about stocking Fairtrade goods, and have given out certificates where people are doing well, for display on their premises. Our current status as a Fairtrade town has now been confirmed.we have written letters where we have felt this could be helpful eg to Morrisons querying why they are not stocking more F/T goods, and believe we may have seen a slight increase in goods stocked, particularly bananas. The Future There is so much more to do, and as the supermarkets vie with each other to see who can charge us the least for our food, Fair Trade producers suffer. The Co-op, who has long been a great champion of Fair Trade products, has recently announced that they can no longer afford to retain the long-term strategic objective that if a Co-operative product can be Fairtrade, it will be Fairtrade. If you are a member, you will have received your voting papers for the AGM, so please make sure you use your vote to call for them to remake this commitment to Fairtrade. We are always looking for new members, so please do consider joining us. We would be particularly interested in anyone who has connections to schools or youth groups. Some members have already begun visiting schools to talk about Fairtrade, and there has been a Fairtrade poster competition in a primary school, but lots more work is needed to engage younger people in the town. And most of all, we all need to consider what we buy, choose Fairtrade where possible, and ask shops about stocking more products. And when we buy the cheapest clothes, can we be sure that the people making them have not been working in unbearable conditions for next to nothing. 3. The Election of Members to positions on the Seaford Fairtrade Committee :- All the current Committee posts agreed to stand for a further year and members agreed unanimously to this. The posts for are Chair.. Ruth Ford Vice Chair.. Dave Argent Secretary.. Eileen Delaney Treasurer.. Angela Colburn After a short interval during which guests enjoyed Fairtrade wine or juice, and Ubuntu, the only Fairtrade Cola available in the UK, The meeting resumed with a presentation by Winnie Reynolds and Ali Gill.

3 PRESENTATION BY WINNIE REYNOLDS & ALI GILL : FAIR TRADE IN NEPAL Winnie is a Fair Trader who has lived in Seaford for several years. She explained to the meeting how she has developed links with a women's group to the North West of Katmandu and helped them to produce clothing, jewellery and handbags all to the qualities which would enable them to be sold in the UK. The organisation which she has helped to set up is SEW [Sewing Empowering Women]. The group is linked in to Women Without Roofs Winnie was assisted in her presentation by Ali Gill, who has lived for some thirty years in Nepal. The country is one of the World's poorest with much of its income dependant on tourism. Winnie's project is aimed at increasing the confidence and skills of women, enabling them to earn a reasonable income which helps to raise the standard of living of their families in a very poor country. Three days before her talk there was a major earthquake near to Kathmandu leading to much destruction and loss of life. At the end of the presentation there was a collection for disaster relief in the country and a cheque for 150 has been sent off to Nepal via United Missions to Nepal, an organisation with many contacts in the country. Survivors pictured above the sprawling damage to Pipte in Sindhupalchok. The earthquake almost completely destroyed the village of Pipte. Makeshift tents erected by survivors are pictured in the foreground.

4 Only the base of the tower remains after most of it collapsed in the 7.8- magnitude earthquake. [KATHMANDU] The photos give some idea of the damage caused. Older buildings came off worst, especially in rural areas where whole areas were flattened. In Katmandu more modern buildings survived. Many historic ones have been destroyed. The death toll from the earthquake is now over 8,000. With transport infrastructure severely damaged, and access to food and water limited, it will be a considerable time before the country can return to any form of normalcy. FAIRTRADE MATTERS During the final part of the meeting a film, Fairtrade Matters was shown. This brief film highlighted the benefits of Fair Trade to two families and their communities in Southern Malawi. Both worked to produce tea. Edson supported his family of eight by growing tea on his smallholding. As a leading member of the Sukambizi Association Trust he sees cooperation as an important way of increasing production and trade of his product. The stable pricing offered by Fairtrade, as well as the Fairtrade Premium, enables the community to plan and invest for the future. Not only has the extra income been used to improve housing, education and health services, but productivity and quality of the final product has also increased. Tsala, a single mother of one, works on a Tea Estate. On Estates Fairtrade has raised standards of working conditions, health and safety, and workers rights. Here too Fairtrade Premiums have been used to improve living and social conditions in workers communities. This has included subsidising food crops such as maize during parts of the year when prices rise due to shortages.

5 Much work remains to be done to achieve a Living Wage for workers on Tea Plantations and Fairtrade International is involved in initiatives in several countries to help achieve this goal. However, Fairtrade Tea accounts for only approximately 8% of total tea sales in the UK. Real benefits to producers in the Developing World will only come when more of us purchase goods including tea which are fairly traded. Fairtrade is about choosing products that change lives a simple, powerful way to make a difference to the people who grow the things we love. Shortly after the film was made in 2013, serious flooding affected Southern Malawi, where the film was made, adding another difficulty to the lives of poor farming communities in the area.

6 SEAFORD FAIRTRADE GROUP would like to thank the following Companies who have supported our efforts to spread the message about the benefits of Fairtrade, in 2015 and previous years. CO-OPERATIVE FOODSTORES SAINSBURY MORRISONS PERCOL