Tag: jts

Charity

Rainbow Turtle Charity AGM 2023

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We’re delighted to announce our charity’s AGM on Tuesday 10th October 2023 at 7pm in the Methodist Central Halls in Paisley (Smithhills Street entrance). Tea and coffee will be provided. All welcome. Please email info@rainbowturtle.org.uk if you plan to attend.

The business section of the meeting will be followed by the showing of a set of 5 short films by the Scottish Fair Trade Forum marking the 10th anniversary of Scotland as a fair trade nation. The films feature people from 5 different towns across Scotland (Alford, Castle Douglas, Motherwell and Wishaw, Paisley and Perth) celebrating the work that they are doing for fair trade. After the films we will have a discussion about the films featuring a panel including Scottish Fair Trade Forum, JTS, Gatehouse Coffee Roasters, Alternative Coffee Co. and Rainbow Turtle.

Enclosed are the papers for the meeting (please click on the link to open the relevant paper):

  1. Agenda
  2. Minutes of AGM 2022
  3. Chair’s report
  4. Financial report

Education, Podcasts, Shop

Interview with Sally Sawaya of Meru Herbs

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Sally Sawaya of Meru Herbs, Kenya

In this episode we play a recording of a talk by Sally Sawaya of Meru Herbs in Kenya that she gave recently to the staff of True Origin and Rainbow Turtle in Paisley, Scotland. Sally is the managing director of Meru Herbs, the Kenyan fair trade company that produces tasty sauces, jams and herbal teas. Meru is a semi arid region of the country where, for many years, water was hard to obtain for farming and domestic use. Things changed just over 30 years ago with a collaboration between the Meru catholic diocese, the Italian government, and the local people which implemented a project to provide water to about 430 families. This change in conditions sparked off the creation of Meru Herbs that went on to improve the lives of many people and empowered women to both work in and run the company.

Sally’s story is one of many of the inspiring ones that have come out of Meru Herbs, where a change in circumstance, combined with fair trade, has transformed their lives. Sally left university with a degree in marketing and started out as an intern with Meru Herbs. Other women have been able to buy land and grow their own food. In rural areas it was often the boys who were sent to school, not the girls, because there wasn’t the money to pay for both. The conventional wisdom was that the family got a better return by educating the boys. 

Charity, Education, Podcasts

Rainbow Turtle Rebooted – Mary Popple interview

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Picture of Mary Popple from her LinkedIn page

In this episode we meet Mary Popple the current chair of JTS, the company that imports fair trade goods into Scotland and distributes them throughout the UK.

Mary grew up in Northern Ireland during the 50s and 60s on the border between the republic and the north. Her father was a church minister who tried not to take sides and, as tensions increased, took his family to Scotland. Those early years in northern Ireland gave Mary a strong sense of the importance of equality and of treating people fairly.

Mary has had an interesting journey to fair trade that has gone via the diamond industry and business management. It was her expertise in managing a business that led her to being invited onto the board of JTS. When she was a member of the St. Andrew’s Fair Trade group they contacted the Royal and Ancient to ask if they would consider using fair trade teas and coffees. A successful relationship was established and now it is written into their procedures to use fair trade products at the Open golf championship.

Mary has a bright and positive outlook on life and it was a real pleasure to listen to her thoughts on how a fair trade business should be run. 

Charity, Education, Fair Trade Fortnight, Podcasts

Rainbow Turtle Rebooted – John Riches Interview – Part 2

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John Riches

In this episode we bring you part 2 of the John Riches interview. (If you’ve not heard it, do check out part 1 where John talks about his early life and influences.)

We join John where he talks about setting up the Balmore Trust and The Coach House, instruments that were used to generate funds for overseas projects. Very quickly they got involved in buying products from people in small communities in Asia when they realised it was better to do that than give them grants. From there it was a small jump to getting involved in fair trade where it’s about supporting the farmers and producers which then benefit their families and creates stable communities.

He’s had about 40 years working in fair trade that includes setting up JTS that got involved in the Scotland Malawi partnership and buying and importing rice from small farmers in a land locked country. For the farmer, selling 90Kg of rice would allow them to send a child to school for a year.  He has a lot of insights into fair trade and I’m sure you’ll enjoy this episode as much as I did.

Charity, Education, Podcasts

Rainbow Turtle Rebooted – John Riches Interview – Part 1

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John Riches of JTS, The Balmore Trust and Gavin’s Mill, talks to Rainbow Turtle about his life and fair trade.

In part 1 of a two part interview, John tells interesting stories of working in a refugee camp in Austria after the 2nd world war, of being a chaplain at Cambridge University at the height of the student protests in the late 60s, of working in the Transkei in South Africa during the apartheid era and meeting anti-apartheid activist, Steve Biko.

He covers his time at Glasgow University teaching about the new testament in the bible and following a student out to Burmah to meet local villagers trying to live under the oppressive regime there. We end this episode in Glasgow during the late 1970s where he is teaching divinity to students and wrestling with the concept of how to help those struggling in developing countries around the world.

Charity, Education, Fair Trade Fortnight, Podcasts

Rainbow Turtle Rebooted Series 2 taster

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We’re in the final stages of preparing series 2 of our podcast, Rainbow Turtle Rebooted. We thought that we’d put out a wee taster as preparation for the start.

In this new series we have interviews with:

  • John Riches, founder of JTS, Professor of Divinity and Episcopal church minister.
  • Mary Popple, member of St. Andrew’s fair trade group and chairperson of JTS.
  • Kiera Wilkins, development officer with the Scottish Fair Trade Forum and one of the founders of the Alternative Coffee Co. A social enterprise set up to link fair trade coffee producers with specialty coffee roasters in the UK.

We hope to have our first episode of this new series out for the beginning of fair trade fortnight 2023 on Monday 27th February.

Uncategorised

Malaysian Curry with Kilombero Rice

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With the colder weather starting, it feels like time to make warming and tasty meals – like this Malaysian Curry with Kilombero Rice recipe, developed by our friends at JTS. Several of the ingredients can be purchased from the Rainbow Turtle shop!

Ingredients:

  • 3 Shallots (can replace with 1 onion)
  • 4 Garlic Cloves
  • 2 teaspoons of Turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon of Eswatini Swazi Fire (available at Rainbow Turtle)
  • 1 teaspoon of Lemongrass paste
  • 1 teaspoon of chopped Ginger
  • 1 Onion, chopped
  • 400g Chicken Breast
  • 200ml of Chicken Stock
  • 1 tin (400g) Ma’s Fairtrade & Organic Coconut Milk (available at Rainbow Turtle)
  • 300g Kilombero Rice (available at Rainbow Turtle)

Directions:

  1. Blend the shallots, garlic, turmeric, lemongrass and ginger into a paste. Add the Swazi Fire to the  strength that you desire. Note – a full teaspoon will be quite hot!
  2. Pre-heat a large frying pan or wok and add some oil. Cut the chicken into cubes of approximately 1 inch and add to the wok. Fry the chicken to seal in the flavour until it has a golden brown colour. Add the onion and fry until soft.
  3. Add in your paste and fry for a further 2 minutes.
  4. Open your tin of Fairtrade coconut milk and add to the paste. (Note – coconut milk can separate in colder temperatures so you may have to scoop the solid part out of the tin into the pan. This will not affect the flavour and will soon melt into the mix).
  5. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
  6. Serve with Kilombero rice for a really tasty Malaysian curry.

If you enjoyed this lovely curry, see here for more JTS recipes!

Uncategorised

Rainbow Turtle AGM 2020

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You are cordially invited to Rainbow Turtle’s AGM on 6th October 2020 at 7pm. To attend our online meeting please sign up here.

The meeting will provide you with an opportunity to hear about the charity’s progress during 2019/20, its financial position as of 31/3/20 and members will have the chance to elect the board of trustees for the coming 12 months. Once you have registered for the meeting you will be contacted closer to the date about joining instructions.

The agenda for the business part of the evening is:

  1. Welcome
  2. Sederunt
  3. Apologies
  4. Minutes of AGM on 8 October 2019
  5. Matters Arising
  6. Chair’s Report
  7. Financial Report
  8. Election of Management Committee
  9. Any other competent business

Following the business portion of the AGM we will be delighted to welcome Tracy Mitchell, managing director of JTS Fair Food Fine Food, as our guest speaker. She will be talking about “JTS – The Global Pandemic And The Supply Chains”. After her talk there will be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

If you would like to attend our meeting click our Eventbrite link here.

Uncategorized

JTS Flavour of the Month – Chermoula

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Our friends at JTS choose a Flavour of the Month to promote every month and for February it’s the very tasty Chermoula sauce – available now in Rainbow Turtle!

Chermoula is a mild, fragrant sauce with a fascinating North African character: it is light, green chilli and coriander with lemon – popular and deliciously versatile.

Brush onto game fish, chicken or lamb – rest for half an hour before grilling. Serve with extra sauce.

Excellent in North African salads with bulgar wheat, parsley, tomato and cucumber.

Uncategorized

90kg Rice Challenge Schools Event

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A few weeks ago we worked together with our friends at JTS, WOSDEC, the Social Enterprise Academy, and the Renfrewshire Fair Trade Steering Group to bring local primary schools together for an event to learn about the 90kg Rice Challenge and to celebrate the links the Challenge has with fair trade, social enterprise, and wider global citizenship.

There was a great buzz about the event, with some really enthusiastic and empowered young people keen to increase their knowledge about the world around them. We were also lucky enough to have visitors from Renfrewshire Council and the local press to help us spread the word even further.