Chelmsford
Fairtrade Town Campaign
Standing Committee
Meeting Report 
September meeting
At its September meeting Chelmsford Fairtrade
Town Campaign set the date
for its AGM. The meeting will be held at Christ Church, New London Road, Chelmsford on Tuesday 17 November in Room 3 -
refreshments will be available at 7pm and the meeting will commence at 7.30pm.
The guest speaker will be Henry Matthews, Senior Lecturer in
Marketing, Supply Chain Management and Agriculture at Writtle College. Henry
will focus on Fairtrade and other issues facing Tajikstan based on his work
there with a number of organisations including
Oxfam.
The Fairtrade Foundation
have announced yet another international supporter - Cadbury's are guaranteeing that all their Dairy Milk
Chocolate bars will now be made with Fairtrade coca beans. This addition to the Fairtrade portfolio will
significantly increase the number of Fairtrade outlets in Chelmsford and across Essex – boosting the Essex profile in
its quest for county Fairtrade status.
A number of promotional
activities are being planned by the Chelmsford Fairtrade Committee for the
coming weeks, namely: 4 October, a Fairtrade stall will be on Chelmsford High
Street from 10am to 4pm; 28 November, a Fairtrade stall on the High Street from
9am to 5pm; 4 December 7pm to 9.15pm the Chelmsford Fairtrade campaign will be
attending the Climate Change Conference organised by Oxfam and Chelmsford TUC.
July Meeting
Following a meeting of
‘Essex Fairtrade’ groups, Chelmsford Fairtrade Town Campaign met last week to
discuss the continuing Fairtrade efforts in and around Chelmsford.
The ultimate aim of the Essex groups is to obtain ‘County’ Fairtrade status –
offering Essex the recognition deserved for its
Fairtrade work.
The Chelmsford group has been told by the Fairtrade
Foundation that its next application to
retain Chelmsford’s Fairtrade
status will need to be returned by May 2010.
To further enhance Chelmsford Town’s application,
the Action group were advised that it could now enlist the support of more
flagship employers – Chelmsford Star Co-operative is the current Flagship
employer. Plans are already in place to
discuss how to encourage
local employers to become corporate members and to ask if it would be possible
to encourage their staff to get involved in Chelmsford Fairtrade activities.
The
meeting reviewed a number of events it has held and made arrangements for a
joint display with Chelmsford TUC on 4 October to
mark Black History Month; there will be a Fairtrade stall in the High Street on
28 November; on 4 December
the Fairtrade Town Campaign will be at the Climate Change event in Christ Church.
The meeting concluded with the
Action Group Treasurer presenting a detailed account of receipts and payments
up to 30 June 2009.
