Welcome to the St Andrews Fairtrade Town Campaign website!

ST ANDREWS HAS BEEN A FAIRTRADE TOWN
SINCE ST ANDREWS DAY 2005

Latest news

The Cupar Fairtrade Campaign Group are holding a Fairtrade cookery demonstration by Christopher Trotter to which all are welcome. It will be held at the Old Parish Centre, Short Lane, Cupar, on Saturday 9th October at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 and include drinks and nibbles.

Read the minutes of the St Andrews Fairtrade Town Campaign meeting 19 August 2010.

Fairtrade at the Open was a real success. More than 30,000 cups of fairly traded tea, coffee and hot chocolate as well as many thousands of snacks were consumed at the Open in St Andrews in July. For the first time at an Open Championship all tea and coffee available through the official catering sites was Fairtrade. Many thanks are due to The R&A for their pro-active support for this Campaign, and to the national media who commented on it.

There are many initiatives going on in Scotland to help improve the lives of people in the developing world. One example is the importing of rice by Just Trading Scotland. By supporting this venture, Councils, churches and other organisations are ensuring better education in Malawi.

Fairtrade Fortnight ran this year from 22 February to 7 March. The theme was The Big Swap. As part of the Big Swap the St Andrews Town Campaign Supporters issued leaflets to shoppers about what it means to producers if shoppers change their habits and buy Fairtrade goods. Have a look here at how it went.

People across Fife are now working towards Fife becoming a Fairtrade Kingdom. This is in line with initiatives that Fife Council are already taking. If you are interested in being involved with this or would like to join the St Andrews Fairtrade Town Campaign group, please contact our Secretary.

Issues that the St Andrews Fairtrade Town Campaign are focussing on in the coming months are

to continue to encourage all the local supermarkets to increase the range of fairly traded products that they offer
to promote the use of fairly traded catering and other products by local hotels and B&Bs in and around St Andrews.

Our aims

The St Andrews Fairtrade Town Campaign aims to promote awareness of fair trade and to encourage a constant increase in the supply of and demand for Fairtrade products.

What we do

We publish a directory of accommodation, shops and cafés and restaurants in St Andrews where Fairtrade products are available and of workplaces and community organisations which have pledged to support Fairtrade.

We organise events during Fairtrade Fortnight each year in St Andrews.

Having successfully retained our Fairtrade status in 2008 we're still campaigning – currently we're working on two fronts - encouraging the supermarkets to stock more Fairtrade products and promoting the use of Fairtrade products during the Open Championships in St Andrews in 2010. Meanwhile you can demand Fairtrade in St Andrews. And if your workplace or community organisation uses fairly traded drinks but isn't in our directory, please let us know!

What are Fairtrade products?

Fairtrade products carry the FAIRTRADE Mark to show that the producers receive a fair and stable price for their labour, along with extra income to improve their lives and to allow them to conserve their local environments. Without these, millions of families who produce our tea, coffee, bananas, cocoa beans, sugar, wine and footballs, etc, are vulnerable to market forces which ignore their rights to even the most basic essentials.

The FAIRTRADE Mark is awarded to products that meet international Fairtrade standards set by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). Producers registered with the FLO receive a minimum price to cover production costs and an extra premium for the local community.

What is a Fairtrade Town?

A Fairtrade Town is a community which has made a commitment to Fairtrade.
Firstly, there is significant awareness and understanding of the concept of Fairtrade.
Secondly, Fairtrade products are available, bought and used in commercial and community organisations.
Finally, a group exists to maintain and increase awareness and sales.

Five specific goals have to be fulfilled before Fairtrade status is granted by the Fairtrade Foundation. These include gaining support for the campaign from the local council, getting Fairtrade products into a number of shops and cafés/restaurants, encouraging local work places and community organisations to use Fairtrade products in their regular tea breaks and meetings, and attracting media support and coverage for the campaign.