To our supporters at Hampstead Parish Church
I am writing to thank you for all your hard work for Traidcraft over the past year. Your total purchases from April 2009 to the end of March 2010 amounted to £3662.28. This has made a real contribution to our work and to the livelihoods of our producers around the world.
Many of you have also gone the extra mile with us in other ways too. We have been overwhelmed by the volume of postcard responses to our tea campaign and impressed by the number of Big Brews and other events organised up and down the country during Fairtrade Fortnight and at other times. Combined with the hundreds of talks given by Traidcraft Speakers, this all helps to promote the work of Traidcraft and fair trade, plays an important part in sustaining the momentum behind the continued growth of fair trade sales in the UK.
Your efforts as a Fair Trader underpin Traidcraft’s work as a pioneer in bringing new commodities to the market, as experts in developing business skills and opening markets for poor producers, and as a leader in promoting changes in trade rules and large company practices. This year has seen the re-launch of our tea range, which allows us to work with some of the most marginalised producers, the first fair trade rubber gloves, the first Fairtrade-marked pasta and the first fair trade charcoal. We have also seen significant progress in getting government support for establishing a supermarket ombudsman. And of course there are thousands of producers and their families who have benefited from the support our trading activity can give them in developing sustainable livelihoods.
And as if that wasn’t enough, many of you have also been giving generously to our charity arm, Traidcraft Exchange, supporting its wider work in the fight against poverty. In all there are some 6,000 Fair Traders, and together you have achieved over £7.5 million of sales for our producers. This support has been all the more important for us this year, as we have been suffering like many others from the impact of the recession, and also from the growing levels of mainstream competition in the world of fair trade.
In these demanding economic times our producers need our support more than ever. As we all know, the increasing visibility of Fairtrade-marked products in the mainstream doesn’t change the fact that fair trade still accounts for only 1% of the total sales of potentially fairly traded products in the UK, a tiny proportion of what it could be – and the scandal of global poverty is as great as ever. Your support for Traidcraft means that the benefits of fair trade sales get ploughed back into the greater mission of working for a fairer world where all can flourish and enjoy the fruits of their labour. There remains much work to be done – but with your continuing efforts and prayers behind us, we are confident that Traidcraft will continue to achieve great things and begin to change the way the world works!
With all good wishes
Paul Chandler
Chief Executive