We were delighted that the Paisley Daily Express wrote up this lovely article about Mary Russell winning the prestigious fair trade award at the annual Scottish Fair Trade Forum’s award ceremony. We’d also like to thank them for kindly giving us permission to share it.
Tonight, pupils at Mary Russell Secondary, and their teachers, were awarded the 2020 Scottish Fair Trade Campaign Award by the Scottish Fair Trade Forum for the work they’ve done with us at Rainbow Turtle and in their community to spread the word of Fair Trade and sustainability. Well done Mary Russell!
The video below shows just some of what they’ve done so far, and you can get a sneak peak at their next project with Rainbow Turtle here!
You may remember that in June we promoted a Crowdfunding campaign from the Scottish Fair Trade Forum to support Fair Trade suppliers (like us!) to survive the Coronavirus pandemic. We’re very pleased to update you all that the campaign raised a total of £9000 and Rainbow Turtle successfully applied for a portion of this money. So far, we’ve used the funding to make our shop a bit safer for volunteers and for customers with a protective screen at our counter, and we’ve restocked the shop with lots of Fair Trade treats!
Many thanks to the Scottish Fair Trade Forum for organising this campaign, and to all who donated.
The Scottish Fair Trade Forum’s crowdfunding campaign to help Fair Trade suppliers in Scotland (like us!) survive these difficult times is about to go into its final week and still has a bit to go to meet their goal. Can you help at all? Fair Trade suppliers in Scotland play a critical role for justice, equity and sustainability in trade and even the smallest of donations will help us all to continue supporting producers in need.
We were asked by the Scottish Fair Trade Forum to choose a photo that represents why we’re so commited to Fair Trade, and why their crowdfunding appeal is so important to us. This picture is from Fairtrade Fortnight 2020, and shows the day Colum (our Director), Gemma (our Shop Manager and Education Officer), and Clotilde (one of our enthusiastic volunteers) had the pleasure of meeting Ndiuzayani Zaya and Aubrey Meki Chilenje from the Fairtrade Certified Kasinthula Cane Growers Association in Malawi. Ndiuzayani spoke about her mother’s work as a farmer with the Fair Trade sugar association; thanks to its certification, all of Ndiuzayani’s education was funded by the Fairtrade Premium. Aubrey also talked about his membership with the Association, their work with Fairtrade and what it had done to help improve livelihoods in the community through healthcare, clean water and other projects to alleviate poverty. Both of them did not shy away from speaking of the challenges of making a profitable living from sugar, though. It was an incredibly powerful experience to meet them and hear their stories, and we’re proud of Rainbow Turtle’s commitment to selling Divine Chocolate who buy their sugar from Kasinthula.
The Scottish Fair Trade Forum are holding a series of local sessions across Scotland, where you can find out more about what’s happening in your area and connect with people who share your passion for Fair Trade. You can find out more about the sessions here or book (for free!) for the Glasgow and the West one, which is taking place in Robertson House on Saturday 7th December, here.
The simple answer? Buy more fairly traded products! But what if you want to do more than that? Well, the Scottish Fair Trade Forum have made it so much easier for you to get campaigning and inspire real change with their Fair Trade Campaign Toolkit. The guide takes you through four modules, with info on Fair Trade, the basics of campaigning, how to take action, and how to take action online.
Introducing the toolkit, the Scottish Fair Trade Forum say:
Whether you are an experienced Fair Trade campaigner, new to the Fair Trade cause or new to campaigning, this toolkit is for YOU! We need Fair Trade and we need people to campaign for it. Unacceptable levels of poverty, economic inequality, human rights violations and the climate crisis are global challenges of our time and we all have a responsibility to take action to try to overcome these challenges. We believe that Fair Trade has a role to play in fighting these global issues.
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
