Fairtrade Fortnight 2019

It’s Fairtrade fortnight already!  From 25th February to 10th March, we’ll be celebrating all things Fairtrade.  Look out for Fairtrade promotions in Crowborough’s shops.

Here at Crowborough Fairtrade, we’re running a Fairtrade baking competition.  This year, your creations must include chocolate and, as usual, there’s the chance to win a Fairtrade hamper if your entry wins.

All you need to do is bring your cake along to the Oasis Centre (TN6 1AS, on Beacon Road opposite the sorting office) between 1pm and 2:30pm on Saturday, 2nd March.  If you needed more of an incentive to come along, there’ll be free Fairtrade tea, coffee and snacks.

See you on Saturday!

Crowborough Christmas Fair

Crowborough Fairtrade will have a stall again at the Crowborough Christmas Fair.  We’ll be selling our famous non-alcoholic (but very tasty) mulled punch, our equally famous chocolate brownies, plus some very seasonal gingerbread biscuits, and mugs of hot chocolate.

Come along and see us, and watch the switching on of Crowborough’s Christmas lights, from 4pm on Friday, 23rd November, 2018.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2018

“Come On In!”

 

That’s the theme for Fairtrade Fortnight which, this year, starts on 26th February and ends on 11th March.  To celebrate Crowborough’s 10 years as a Fairtrade Town, Crowborough Fairtrade is organising a Fairtrade Baking Competition.

All you need to do is bake a great Fairtrade cake!  (But don’t worry if you aren’t able to enter the competition; since the theme this year is “Come On In!“, everyone is invited to have a free cup of Fairtrade tea or coffee with us on the day).

 

There are two categories, one for bakers 13 years old and under, and another one for everyone else.

The rules are the same for everyone, though.  You cake will be judged on:

• How many Fairtrade ingredients you’ve used.
• How good it tastes.
• How good it looks.

Our judge is a cake expert from the WI, and there will be a Fairtrade hamper as a prize for each category.

To enter, simply bring your cake along to Crowborough Town Hall on Saturday, 3rd March, between 10am and 11:30am.

Judging will take place between 11:30am and 12:30pm.  Prizes will be awarded at 12:30pm, and you’ll need to have had your last slice of cake and cup of tea or coffee by 1pm.

Don’t forget to look out for Fairtrade goods in Crowborough’s shops all the time, not just during Fairtrade Fortnight.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2017

Fairtrade Fortnight 2017 runs from 27th February to 12th March.

The theme this year is “Take a Fairtrade Break!”  We all need to take a little time out every now and again, and how better than with a Fairtrade drink or snack.

Crowborough Fairtrade is running a little Fairtrade Fortnight competition.  We’d like you to email us your reasons for choosing Fairtrade products.  Tell us why taking five is even better with Fairtrade, and why you buy your Fairtrade drinks and snacks here in Crowborough.

The reasons we like the most will win the author a picnic hamper, and a few Fairtrade goodies to go in it.

Send your entries to CrowboroughFairtrade@gmail.com.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2016

Fairtrade Fortnight begins on the 29th February this year, and ends on the 13th March.

“Sit down for breakfast, Stand up for farmers!”

..is the theme, and we’re running a little photo competition to encourage you to see how many Fairtrade products you can put on  your breakfast table.

All you need to do is arrange your breakfast table to show as many Fairtrade goods as prominently and as creatively as possible, take a picture (using a digital camera or smartphone – we can’t take prints), and send it to us at:

CrowboroughFairtrade@gmail.com

At the end of Fairtrade Fortnight we’ll judge the snaps, and whoever took the one we think shows the most Fairtrade creativity will win a Fairtrade hamper!

We’ll be showing the winning picture (and probably the best of the rest, too) on our website and Facebook page.  Please make sure that if your picture has any people in it that they have given their permission for the picture to be published.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2015

This year’s theme for Fairtrade Fortnight is simply… the basics!  Tea, sugar, and cocoa are the key Fairtrade goods to look out for in the two weeks between the 23rd February and the 8th March.  (But don’t ignore all the other Fairtrade goods that are also available!).

As usual, Crowborough Fairtrade would like you to buy your Fairtrade goods here in Crowborough.  We’ve organised the Fairtrade Treat Trail to encourage you!

Many of Crowborough’s primary schools will be handing out Fairtrade Treat Trail cards.  You can see images of the front and the back below.  All we’re asking you to do is visit three different shops in Crowborough, and look out for tea, sugar, or cocoa (including chocolate!).  At each shop, ask for a sticker, and stick it in one of the spaces on the card.  Easy!

If your child’s school isn’t distributing cards, ask for one from a participating retailer.

The shops taking part are:

• BP Croft Road;
• Chappell’s Health Food, Croft Road;
• Dominos Pizza, Croft Road;
• Harvest Energy, Eridge Road;
• Kreshaa Express, Crowborough Hill;
• Krish Food and Wine, Eridge Road;
• Lidl, Eridge Road;
• Morrisons, Eridge Road;
• News Plus, Crowborough Hill;
• Poundfield Stores, Green Lane;
• Sainsburys, Crowborough Hill, Jarvis Brook;
• Tesco, Sybron Way, Jarvis Brook;
• Waitrose, Croft Road;
• Whitehill News and Convenience, Whitehill Road;
• X-Press, Crowborough Hill, Jarvis Brook.

If you have three stickers on your card, come along to the Crowborough Community Centre between 2pm and 2:30pm on the 7th March, and you can exchange your card for a Fairtrade snack bar*.  If you write your name on the bottom of the completed card, you have the chance to win a Fairtrade hamper.  The winning card will be drawn at 2:30pm.

See you on the 7th!

*Note that only one card per person will be accepted!

Fairtrade Accreditation

The Fairtrade Foundation (http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/) is a charity that ensures that  producers in developing countries get a fair deal.  Many of the products that we buy regularly, such as tea, coffee, chocolate, and bananas, come from developing nations that are able to offer little protection to their farming communities.  Sometimes, the price paid to these farmers for their produce is lower than the cost of production.  Even when the price paid covers production costs, there may not be enough left to ensure that they have access to healthcare, or to provide education for their children.

Fairtrade accredited supply chains help to overcome these difficulties.  Farmers receive a minimum price for their crops, giving them the confidence to invest in their future.

Crowborough Fairtrade exists to promote the sale of Fairtrade accredited goods here in Crowborough.  If you purchase Fairtrade accredited goods in the town you help both the local economy and farmers in the developing world.

There are other accreditation schemes, such as the Rainforest Alliance (http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/), LEAF (http://www.leafuk.org/leaf/consumers.eb), or the Red Tractor scheme (http://www.redtractor.org.uk/home).  Fairtrade is unique amongst these – it’s the only one dedicated to tackling poverty.

You can find the Fairtrade symbol, shown on the right, on all Fairtrade accredited produce.  Look out for it when you shop.

Crowborough Fairtrade also has a Facebook page.  You can find it at facebook.com/crowboroughfairtrade.

 

World Fairtrade Day 2014

Today, 10th May, 2014, is World Fairtrade Day.  If you’re out shopping in Crowborough, make a point of  looking for Fairtrade Goods.  And if you’re out this evening, have some Fairtrade wine with your meal, or a tub of Fairtrade ice cream while you watch a movie.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2014 Competition Prizegiving

Competition Winners outside the Sainsbury’s Local in Jarvis Brook

Bananas were the theme for Fairtrade Fortnight this year.  We asked shoppers in Crowborough to tell us how many Bananas were sold in the town between the 24th February and the 9th March.  The correct answer (to within a banana or two!) is 78,887.  We estimate that about 37,000 of them were Fairtrade.

We had two winners, each of whom were given a prize of a hamper of Fairtrade foods from local stores.  The awards ceremony took place at 10am on Saturday, 5 April.

Crowborough’s mayor, Cllr Peter Cowie, and the manager of the Sainsbury’s Local in Jarvis Brook awarded the winners their hampers.  The Sainsbury’s Local in Jarvis Brook supported the competition by donating one of the prize hampers.

For more information about Fairtrade, visit the Fairtrade Foundation’s website at http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/

Fairtrade Fortnight 2014

Fairtrade Fortnight runs from the 24th February to the 9th March this year.  As usual, Crowborough Action on FairTrade (CrAFT) are promoting Fairtrade here in Crowborough.  Buying Fairtrade in the town helps both the local economy and producers in developing countries.

The range of Fairtrade products available is enormous – from beauty products to baby clothes to Brazil nuts – and most are available from Crowborough’s retailers.

Look out for Fairtrade Fortnight campaign posters and leaflets around the town.  For more infomration about Fairtrade and Fairtrade Fortnight, check the Fairtrade Foundation’s website.

Fairtrade Goods in Crowborough