The 2023 AGM was held at West Offices, York on 16 October 2023 and the following Annual Report was delivered:
YORK FAIRTRADE FORUM ANNUAL REPORT 2022-2023
Monthly business and planning meetings have continued, alternating between in-person, at the Council Offices; and online. The number of attendees has been small and we are keen to recruit more members.
To celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight 2023, members of York Fair Trade Forum gave away Fairtrade bananas in St Helen’s Square. These were kindly donated by Sainsbury and Waitrose. Although the conditions weren’t the best for having an outdoor chat, several passers-by did stop to learn more about fair trade. Lots of leaflets about York as a Fairtrade city, as well as free copies of the Forum’s booklet ‘Fair’s Fair’, were handed out, as well as all the bananas.
We welcomed back a former member of York Fairtrade Forum, Joanna Pollard, as a guest speaker, to tell us about her trip to Ghana, where she met with Fairtrade farmers. At another meeting we heard from Margot Brown and Rory Allen who had been to Palestine and were able to tell us about Fairtrade producers there.
We have continued our support for, and investment in, Shared Interest and we had a Fairtrade stall at a Shared Interest meeting in York, which was attended by a number of our members.
In the summer, a shortage of personnel meant we were only able to have a stall at one of the community events in local parks. This was in Woodthorpe, and was very well attended. Fairer World, in Gillygate, has resumed its sale or return policy, and this has been a great help to the Fairtrade Forum, and made having stalls so much easier.
Cawood Primary School invited us to send a speaker to the school to talk about Fairtrade, and there was a good response from the pupils. We are following this up by suggesting a Fairtrade poster competition, which the teacher involved is keen to take on. Another school visited was Hempland Primary School, where there was also a positive response
Chris Cullwick has been the Council representative on the Forum, but his appointment as Lord Mayor has meant he is stepping back, and we have welcomed Tony Clarke to replace him.
York continues to have two prominent Fair Trade shops: Fairer World and Shared Earth. Both are closely connected to the Fairtrade Forum. See Notes below for more detail.
In 2024 York will have been a Fairtrade city for 20 years. Plans are being made to celebrate this, and to use it as an opportunity to raise the profile of Fair Trade. Civic leaders will be invited to join everyone who has an interest in Fair Trade at a special event. There will also be a display at the CityScreen cinema in York.
Notes:
“Fairer World [Gillygate] spent most of 2023 serving customers at the shop doorway from behind a perspex screen in order to control minimise the risk of Covid infections, with the consequent negative impact on sales. After fully re-opening to customers in mid-November [2023], however, the Fairer World shop has been busy. Stalls in churches provided by Fairer World continue to be significant in terms of sales of fair trade products, increasing in both size and number in 2023.”
“Shared Earth [Minster Gates] has expanded this year to include new suppliers in India, Palestine and Chile, and a new Fairtrade chocolate supplier in the UK, Cocoa Loco. Buying trips have been made to Indonesia and Brazil, and Director Yuliana Sjahlendra from Bali visited York in September. Sales in Shared Earth’s York shop are up 20% on pre-Covid, though down slightly in 2023. Its Liverpool shop was recently voted Best Gift Shop in Liverpool in the Retail Business Awards 2023. A campaign is under way to raise £70,000 for 4 Fair Trade and sustainability projects, including Joliba Trust (supporting villages in Mali to combat desertification), Sungai Watch (river barriers in Bali to stop plastic flowing into the ocean), Transform Trade (previously Traidcraft Exchange), and a project to provide market access for artisans in Bali. So far [Oct 23] £28,000 has been raised.”
You can find here the annual reports for previous years: