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TRAIDCRAFT
This should be a year of celebration as Traidcraft reaches its 30th anniversary.
There will be quite a few new products, the first for my stall will be the first UK fair trade
rubber gloves. At the moment they come only in medium size.
I was sad to read the adverse report on fair trade in our newspaper at the beginning of January.
It was a generalized report and one of which Traidcraft could not be accused.
You may have wondered why Traidcraft sells Facial Tissues, Toilet Tissues and Kitchen Rolls.
They don't have a fair-trade symbol and are a UK product. Traidcraft allocates 5%
of every tissue product sold to a special fund that gives directly to our producers to help
grow their businesses or fund projects in their communities.
Beneficiaries so far are:
- Dezign
inc. in Zimbabwe for digital camera,
- Mauritian sugar co-op for help with Fairtrade Labelling
Organisation (FLO) certification,
- Seeds Aplenty in South Africa for developing market strategies,
- Cipac - a honey co-op in Guatemala to improve quality
of honey and increase production.
The fair-trade goods sold by Traidcraft do not finance the work of Traidcraft Exchange, the charity
side of Traidcraft. The charity side relies on donations. When people say to me "keep
the change" this goes into the change box and in time to Traidcraft Exchange. Last year
I was able to send £90, this included money given to me for talks about Traidcraft to various
organizations.
May the work of Traidcraft not be badly affected by the present financial position in our country,
Jean Wheatley
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