The Fair Trade Store Blog

Women and Children`s Lives Being Saved in Sreepur Village, Bangladesh

It`s true. Women and children`s lives are being saved and transformed in Sreepur Village, Bangladesh, by a UK-based project that THE FAIR TRADE STORE has come into contact with.

‘Sreepur Village, Bangladesh’ funds and oversees ‘Shishu Polli Plus’ (translated as Childrens Village Plus) a small non-religious, non-political organisation based in Sreepur, rural Bangladesh.

THE PROJECT
It is the only project in Bangladesh offering shelter and training to women and their families, and is becoming increasingly well known throughout the country.

SPP works with destitute mothers and their children to give them the health, knowledge and skills thay need to function independently in society.
At the moment over 135 mothers and 450 children are supported by SPP.

As a grass roots organisation they respond to local need and run other related programmes such as supporting vulnerable (eg trafficked or abandoned) children and fostering.
“We provide safety, a loving environment, food, clothing, education, and vocational training so that the people who come to us can look forward to independent lives in their communities.” commented one of the project workers.

THE WOMEN
Shishu Polli is often the first place where each woman wakes up knowing that she will be safe, will receive nutritious meals and will have the company and friendship of other women in similar circumstances.

Each mother stays up to 5 years following an agreed rehabilitation programme. They are paid a small allowance each month plus a compulsory savings scheme where money is put into a bank account by the project so that they have funds when they leave.
All of the women have been abused in some way so group and individual counselling to bolster their self esteem and confidence is provided.

THE CHILDREN
Shishu Polli Plus is a happy and relaxed place for the children too.
The children have a wonderful life at the village. They have plenty of friends and space to play – both in the well equipped playground and in the sports field (despite the presence of goats and cows!) and on the basketball court.

Most of the children have mothers at Shishu Polli, but the project still takes-in abandoned and trafficked children if there is not a more suitable place for them with other NGOs.

All the kids are provided with nourishing food, education and lots of opportunity for play. All of them have suffered severe deprivation before arriving in Sreepur.

“It is a joy to see them running round, laughing and playing. There is always a child coming to hold your hand, sing you a song, or show you a dance” the project worker added.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Find out more about the Sreepur Village project, see more images, read more stories and see videos of the people involved.

You can also make a donation.

Thank you for reading my latest Blog. If you have any comments to make, please leave them below.
Look out for more posts from THE FAIR TRADE STORE BLOG soon – Paul

Secret Diary of a Fair Trader…hunting down the world`s best incense

Fair Trade incense? Is there such a thing? These and many more questions sprung to mind a year or so ago.
Afterall, I`d never used incense before and didn`t really know what they were or how it all worked. Wasn`t it something hippies used at music festivals? Was it anything to do with smoking or drugs? The questions kept coming.

I`d noticed that a number of retailers, both online, in stores and at market stalls were selling incense. Perhaps this was an area my business needed to look closely at? But where on earth do I begin?
As it happens, the answer to that last question was to be….India.

Thank heavens for Google search. (Oh..and for feed back from some of my more knowledgeble friends!)
Spending a few hours searching Google taught me that there is a massive range of different fragrances, brands, importers and quality levels out there.
I`d also seen from visits to a couple of nearby markets that retail prices varied considerable. Just how were retailers able to sell bundles of incense sticks for under a pound?

Well, now I know and, as usual, it`s all down to quality of the raw materials and the method of manufacture.
For the actual product itself, the use of nasty, artificial ingredients makes a huge difference to not only the fragrance quality, but the burn time too. I found this out by sampling dozens of different products at home and keeping a detailed log of my findings.
Time-consuming (and at times, unpleasant) stuff, but very necessary if I was to be making the right business decisions.

Armed with this research, I decided that incense was a product area I wanted to move into, but as a Fair Trade business, needed to be very careful about the provenance of any products stocked.
Luckily, one of my existing Fair Trade suppliers (who supply our range of handmade baskets) also included incense in their range.
The brand name is One Aromatics and they are imported from a village in southern India, where traditional methods of manufacturer are still used and only natural raw materials are used.
Additionally, I was able to get guarantees as to the trading practices adopted and could see that Fair Trade principles were being strictly adhrered to.
I liked their story and was happy to move to the next stage….

Having tried some samples myself, I could see that I had stumbled upon something special and decided to place my first order with them.

We haven`t looked back since. Our customers are telling us that, in their opinion, these are the finest incense on the market and we have now built up a loyal customer base who refuse to buy anything other than our One Aromatics incense sticks.

From the range of 12 frangrances we now stock, my personal favourite is Vanilla -
essence from the pods is combined with oil from sandalwood to produce a fragrance that is wonderfully calming, consoling, and soothing. A great relief in tense or stressful situations.

If anyone would like to know more about our importer of these incense and the great work they do in supporting the producer group in southern India, please leave a comment at the bottom of this Blog post, or contact me directly.

Thank you for reading – please look out for more “Secret Diary of a Fair Trader” posts soon – Paul

What is Fair Trade? Five top Fair Trade Facts to answer that question

This is a question we get asked constantly – “what exactly is Fair Trade?” And it`s a good one, too.

The World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) lays out a number of standards that Fair Trade groups and businesses must follow in their day-to-day work and carries out monitoring to ensure these principles are upheld.

However, some of these standards can be a little deep and complicated, so below I have selected five of them and provided simplified explainations of each to help answer the question “what is Fair Trade?”
I`ve called each of them a “Fair Trade Fact” – hope you find them useful….

FAIR TRADE FACT No 1: CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED PRODUCERS.
Poverty reduction through trade forms a key part of the Fair Trade movement, which involves supporting marginalised small producers. It seeks to enable them to move from income insecurity and poverty to economic self-sufficiency and ownership. The trade supports community development.

FAIR TRADE FACT No 2: TRADING PRACTICES.
Fair Trade must involve concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalised small producers and does not maximize profit at their expense.
Suppliers respect contracts and deliver products on time and to the desired quality and specifications.

Fair Trade buyers, recognising the financial disadvantages producers and suppliers face, ensure orders are paid on receipt of documents and according to the attached guidelines.
An interest free pre-payment of at least 50% is made, if requested.

It also encourages long term relationships based on solidarity, trust and mutual respect that contribute to the promotion and growth of Fair Trade and effective communication with its trading partners.

FAIR TRADE FACT No 3: PAYMENT OF A FAIR PRICE.
A fair price is one that has been mutually agreed by all through dialogue and participation, which provides fair pay to the producers and can also be sustained by the market.
Where Fair Trade pricing structures exist, these are used as a minimum. Fair pay means provision of socially acceptable remuneration (in the local context) considered by producers themselves to be fair and which takes into account the principle of equal pay for equal work by women and men.

FAIR TRADE FACT No 4: CHILD LABOUR AND FORCED LABOUR.
The WFTO organisation adheres to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and national / local law on the employment of children.
The organisation ensures that there is no forced labour in its workforce and / or members or homeworkers and that buyers of Fair Trade products from producer groups either directly or through intermediaries ensure that no forced labour is used in production.

FAIR TRADE FACT No 5: WORKING CONDITIONS.
Fair Trade practices must provide a safe and healthy working environment for employees and / or members. It complies, at a minimum, with national and local laws and ILO conventions on health and safety.

Working hours and conditions for employees and / or members (and any homeworkers) comply with conditions established by national and local laws and ILO conventions.

Fair Trade organisations are aware of the health and safety conditions in the producer groups they buy from. They seek, on an ongoing basis, to raise awareness of health and safety issues and improve health and safety practices in producer groups.

Are there any Fair Trade “facts” that you think are more important than the ones I have outlined above?
Is there anything you want further clarification on?
If so, please leave a comment at the bottom of this Blog post and I will get back to you – Paul.

If you have found this post useful, please use the “Connect with us” icons at the top right-hand side of the Blog.

Secret Diary of a Fair Trader….competing against Primark

Do you shop in Primark? It seems lots of people do.
Vast stores on every High Street, huge ranges, cheap prices, latest fashion trends….the attractions for the UK shopper go on and on.

As I sat, relaxing in the sun in my home town of Southport yesterday, it seemed that at least one in ten people under 30 years of age had one or more Primark brown paper carrier bags in their hands.
Cheap, throw-away fashion…but at what price?

In the past, Primark has axed three suppliers in India for passing work to unapproved sub-contractors who were using child labour.

Children working at home were embroidering dresses and other items sold in the fashion chain’s 200 plus stores in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Belgium.

The revelations were highly embarrassing for a company that has always claimed it is possible to sell T-shirts for as little as £2 without compromising its ethics.

The company were alerted to the use of child labour in southern India by a BBC Panorama investigation screened a while back.

The documentary shows children as young as 11 being paid just 60p a day by factory bosses to work in a refugee camp.

Panorama programme makers found children surrounded by Primark clothes, their labels giving away their destination – the UK and Ireland.

The BBC Panorama team carried out a six-month undercover investigation at one of Primark’s major suppliers, Fab and Fabric.
They discovered the Indian company were sub-contracting middlemen who employed children at Bhavanisagar refugee camp.

A Primark spokesman said: “Primark is an ethical organisation and takes its responsibilities seriously.
“It’s an absolute outrage for anyone to suggest otherwise.
“The BBC came to us with very serious allegations about the conduct of a small number of factories which we investigated throughly.
“What we found left us with no option but to drop those factories.”

Thought-provoking stuff indeed.
So, the next time you think about buying something from your High Street store, maybe stop for a second and think about the person who made the item.
If things are so cheap, how much do you think they got paid? What conditions were they working in? How old were they?

At THE FAIR TRADE STORE we can`t compete with the big High Street chains….but, as I keep saying to our wonderful customers, there is definitely more love involved!

So, why not shop ethically in our Fair Trade online store, confident that together, we can help to make a difference”.

If this blog post has provoked you in any way, why not leave your comments below? I`d love to hear from you – Paul.

You can read the original article in Mail Online here.

Secret Diary of a Fair Trader….. and the Story of the Recycled Indian Newspaper Bags

When setting up my business over two years ago, I became transfixed by a ground-breaking project I`d heard about in India and was determined to find a way to support it.

The project in question was started in 2004 and run by a Non Government Organisation (NGO) whose mission is to shelter, feed and educate street children, usually boys, who have been living rough on the railway station at New Delhi.

The project generates income by making recycled newspaper bags and jute items. This allows the NGO to take care of thirteen street children who live in a house in a village about an hour`s journey from the city.
As well as helping the local economy, the project has helped the boys to integrate into the wider community by attending school and playing, rather than pulling rickshaws, shoe polishing, rag picking or worse……

How it works is this. The boys go out each day into the local community on bicicle rickshaws to collect newspaper from private houses and then over 80 local women help construct the bags by recycling this newspaper and adding jute handles for our comfort and convenience.
The end results are these fabulous recycled Indian Newspaper Bags.

So the question was…. how could THE FAIR TRADE STORE get behind this initiative?

The temptation of any small, fledgeling business is to keep costs down, so why on earth would I spend additional money buying these bags simply to wrap customer purchases in?
Surely the maths didn`t stack up?
I could buy cheap paper bags for this purpose from wholesalers in Liverpool or Manchester, or buy online, based on the cheapest price, from some faceless company.

However, after much deliberation, I decided the required investment was worthwhile and my first order was duly placed. It would give my business a point of difference, afterall.
Since then, customer feeback has been very positive, saying that the bags add value to their purchase. Indeed many customers are re-using the bags themselves, which is great.
As a result, my orders have continued and the Fair Trading cycle grows and grows.

To help balance the books commercially, however, I decided to stock a range of three different sized recycled newspaper bags for sale in our online shop. Sales from these would bring in some income to be put aside for future orders.
They make a really unique gift bag for any presents as no two bags are the same! The larger bags come complete with a little tag showing a picture of the boys and explaining their story.
And the bags are stronger than they look – but please keep out of the rain!

I believe the project in New Delhi is going from strength to strength, which gives me great satisfaction. I`m so glad I decided to invest from day one and now I wouldn`t be without my recycled newspaper bags – they have become part of my brand!

If you have enjoyed reading this post and finding out more about this Fair Trade project, then why not leave your comments below?
I`d love to hear from you – Paul

You can read more “Secret Diary of a Fair Trader” posts on our blog.

Residents of Kibera Slum in Nairobi, Kenya produce Fair Trade Jewellery

A fantastic initiative has been started by one of our importers, Zuri Design, involving a small team of artisans in the Kibera slum, on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya who are making Fairly Traded Jewellery.

This slum is the largest in Africa and was recently featured in a two-part documentary called Famous, Rich and in the Slums. It was supporting The BBC`s Red Nose Day Appeal, 2011 and centred on the everyday life of residents as witnesses by Lenny Henry, Angela Rippon, Reggie Yates and Samantha Womack.

Zuri have been working in partnership with a youth employment project called Xcel Concepts in order to raise funds to open a pioneering bone workshop in the slum.
Currently, the majority of workshops are unsafe with many of the workers exploited by middle men.

THE FAIR TRADE STORE is now stocking a range of bracelets where every penny of profit from the sales of these products is returned to the producer to fund this community project.
If you would like to purchase one, please email or call me direct. (Please see the Contact Us section on this Blog for full details).
Our Blog will follow the progress of the new workshop and what positive changes your purchases bring to this unregulated industry that employs almost 500 young people from the slum.

Xcel Concepts also help produce a range of our ongoing jewellery, made from waste cow bone beads, which comprises of bracecelets, necklaces and earrings like the ones shown at the top of this blog post.
You can get a feel for the products by visiting the Fair Trade jewellery section of our website.

As we often say, “together we can make a difference”.
Many thanks for your interest – Paul.

STOP PRESS : Over £800 has now been raised for this project by the sales of these bracelets and associated collections!

What do you think? Please feel free to leave your comments below – we`d love to hear from you.

Just arrived – our new Fair Trade Jewellery range from Kenya

We have sourced a fabulous new range of animal-themed Fair Trade jewellery from Kenya, which is skillfully hand crafted from locally-sourced waste cow bone.
THE FAIR TRADE STORE has teamed up with Zuri Design who are are a UK-based importer, that has set up and works closely with, a number of projects in Kenya.

For instance, one project is called Excel Concepts and specialises in cow bone bead making. It was started in 2005 and has recently moved into a new premises in Kibera slum, on the outskirts of Nairobi. The aim of the project now is for it to become self sustainable. It has plans to be co-owned by 4 of the orginal young street boys who were trained on project start-up programmes and who have remained comitted to their work. They are now producing top quality beads that are used by a number of other producer groups including our beautiful animal-themed range of Fair Trade jewellery.

This project involves bringing change to the cow bone jewellery industry in Kibera slum, Nairobi. This craft industry has been around since the late 70’s and employs over 500 people in Nairobi. These workers are almost always underpaid and work with dangerous machinery and in dirty and unsafe workshops. Most of these workshops are based in the slums, including the workshop this project helped to start. The work is highly skilled, yet the workers of this industry are often exploited, with middle men taking advantage of the fact many buyers are too scared to visit workshops in the slum. The idea of this project is to set up and run an example workshop so that others locally can see the benefits of adhering to Fair Trade principles.

A second project is Luckysama Women`s Group, named after the area in Nairobi where the ladies live. The 7 employees here work from home, buying cow bone beads from the project above and finishing them off into the stylish Fair Trade jewellery you can see in our range.

See more of our range of gifts by visiting THE FAIR TRADE STORE`S ONLINE SHOP NOW.

Fair Trade Facts – 10 Standards of the WFTO

The World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) prescribes 10 Standards that Fair Trade Organisations must follow in their day-to-day work and carries out monitoring to ensure these principles are upheld. At THE FAIR TRADE STORE, we do our best to work within these standards and are pleased to be able to explain them here in our Fair Trade Blog.

FAIR TRADE FACT 1: Creating Opportunities for Economically Disadvantaged Producers.
Poverty reduction through trade forms a key part of the organisation’s aims. The organisation supports marginalised small producers. It seeks to enable them to move from income insecurity and poverty to economic self-sufficiency and ownership. The trade supports community development.

FAIR TRADE FACT 2: Transparency and Accountability
The organisation is transparent in its management and commercial relations and is accountable to all its stakeholders. The organisation finds appropriate, participatory ways to involve employees, members and producers in its decision-making processes.

FAIR TRADE FACT 3: Trading Practices
The organisation trades with concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalised small producers and does not maximize profit at their expense. Suppliers respect contracts and deliver products on time and to the desired quality and specifications.

Fair Trade buyers, recognising the financial disadvantages producers and suppliers face, ensure orders are paid on receipt of documents and according to the attached guidelines. An interest free pre payment of at least 50% is made if requested.

The organisation maintains long term relationships based on solidarity, trust and mutual respect that contribute to the promotion and growth of Fair Trade. It maintains effective communication with its trading partners.

FAIR TRADE FACT 4: Payment of a Fair Price
A fair price is one that has been mutually agreed by all through dialogue and participation, which provides fair pay to the producers and can also be sustained by the market. Where Fair Trade pricing structures exist, these are used as a minimum. Fair pay means provision of socially acceptable remuneration (in the local context) considered by producers themselves to be fair and which takes into account the principle of equal pay for equal work by women and men.

FAIR TRADE FACT 5: Child Labour and Forced Labour
The organisation adheres to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and national / local law on the employment of children. The organisation ensures that there is no forced labour in its workforce and / or members or homeworkers.

Organisations who buy Fair Trade products from producer groups either directly or through intermediaries ensure that no forced labour is used in production and the producer complies with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and national / local law on the employment of children. Any involvement of children in the production of Fair Trade products (including learning a traditional art or craft) is always disclosed and monitored and does not adversely affect the children’s well-being, security, educational requirements and need for play.

FAIR TRADE FACT 6: Non Discrimination, Gender Equity and Freedom of Association
The organisation does not discriminate in hiring, remuneration, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on race, caste, national origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union membership, political affiliation, HIV/Aids status or age.

FAIR TRADE FACT 7: Working Conditions
The organisation provides a safe and healthy working environment for employees and / or members. It complies, at a minimum, with national and local laws and ILO conventions on health and safety.

Working hours and conditions for employees and / or members (and any homeworkers) comply with conditions established by national and local laws and ILO conventions.

Fair Trade Organisations are aware of the health and safety conditions in the producer groups they buy from. They seek, on an ongoing basis, to raise awareness of health and safety issues and improve health and safety practices in producer groups.

FAIR TRADE FACT 8: Capacity Building
The organisation seeks to increase positive developmental impacts for small, marginalised producers through Fair Trade.
Organisations working directly with small producers develop specific activities to help these producers improve their management skills, production capabilities and access to markets.

FAIR TRADE FACT 9: Promotion of Fair Trade
The organisation raises awareness of the aim of Fair Trade and of the need for greater justice in world trade through Fair Trade.

FAIR TRADE FACT 10: Environment
Organisations which produce Fair Trade products maximize the use of raw materials from sustainably managed sources in their ranges, buying locally when possible. They use production technologies that seek to reduce energy consumption and where possible use renewable energy technologies that minimize greenhouse gas emissions. They seek to minimise the impact of their waste stream on the environment. Fair Trade agricultural commodity producers minimise their environmental impacts, by using organic or low pesticide use production methods wherever possible.

Buyers and importers of Fair Trade products give priority to buying products made from raw materials that originate from sustainably managed sources, and have the least overall impact on the environment.
All organisations use recycled or easily biodegradable materials for packing to the extent possible, and goods are dispatched by sea wherever possible.

WHY NOT VISIT THE FAIR TRADE STORE`S ONLINE SHOP NOW?

Fair Trade or Fairtrade?

The Fairtrade Mark is awarded to products which meet internationally agreed standards. However, there are many products for which a standard has yet to be agreed. For example, jewellery, bags, fashion accessories, etc

Reputable organizations such as The British Association for Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) have for many years sourced these products to standards at least equal to those applying to products covered by the Fairtrade Mark.

To distinguish between these categories of products, we use Fairtrade (one word) in relation to those which carry the Fairtrade Mark, and Fair Trade (two words) for the extensive range of products for which the Mark is not yet available.

The products offered for sale by THE FAIR TRADE STORE come from responsible suppliers/importers who work directly with the producers themselves to ensure that Fair Trade principles are adhered to. This close working relationship is often based on frequent visits to the producers where contracts are agreed that allow long term planning and help to build a “fair” partnership between producers and consumers based on mutual respect and trust.

By simply switching to Fair Trade you can use your purchasing power as economic muscle, secure in the knowledge that the product is not being brought to you at a terrible cost to the people that produced it.
So, by buying from THE FAIR TRADE STORE you really will be “helping to make a difference”.

PLEASE VISIT THE FAIR TRADE STORE`S ONLINE SHOP NOW