Fairtrade Church FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions about point (i)

Q:What if some of our members don't like the taste of Fairtrade tea or coffee?

A: First question -- have they tasted it recently? Some people, when they think of Fairtrade coffee, are still thinking of the old "Campaign Coffee" . . . and even dedicated Fairtrade enthusiasts will agree that "Campaign Coffee" was pretty grim. But times have changed, and we now have hundreds of different Fairtrade coffees and teas, some of which have even won medals for their taste. If you organise a tasting, you're sure to find one that is generally pleasing. If people still hold out for particular non-Fairtrade brands, perhaps it is worth thinking whether there are legitimate reasons or whether individual preference is being pursued at the expense of justice.

Q: What if our church doesn't normally serve tea or coffee after the service?
A: That's fine -- just make sure that you use Fairtrade products whenever you do serve tea or coffee . . . say at a church fete, or when you have visitors during sponsored cycle rides.

Q: What about meetings in people's homes?
A: No one expects a church to mandate what people serve in their own homes. . . . so there's no need to schedule inspections of committee members' cupboards! But it's still good to encourage members of the congregation to use Fairtrade products at home, as well as in church. Some churches have voluntary pledge schemes for members -- people sign on to use tea and coffee, or to buy a certain number of Fairtrade products. The Abingdon Traidcraft Group offered the "2 x 2 Challenge": participants committed to buying £2 worth of Fairtrade products a month for 2 years. Going further, fairtrade@stmichaels and The Door newspaper have challenged people to eat at least 3 fairly traded products a day for a given period. It's not hard, actually, given the extended range. Perhaps someone in your church might even like to follow the example of Tearfund's Ben Clowney (aka Fairtrade Man), who ate ONLY fairly traded products during Lent 2007!

Q: We love the Fairtrade biscuits . . . but we need to serve more than 100 a week -- and that could get quite expensive. What should we do?
A: Firstly, take heart! Traidcraft has now brought out a new bulk chocolate chip biscuit that is quite affordable. But where there is a Fairtrade product that is beyond your budget to buy on a regular basis, note that the wording of point (ii) gives considerable flexibility. So perhaps try to use that product as often as you can, but don't worry if that's not every week. What matters is that you try to move forwards . . . assessing where you can make the switch and acting accordingly.

Q: Our local shops and supermarkets have Fairtrade tea, coffee, chocolate and bananas -- but where can we find the other products?
A: National chains and many centrally supplied smaller stores now can offer -- in theory -- a wide range of products . . . but they don't necessarily show up on the shelves of every branch. Try a survey of church members to see if any have found a good local supplier. Or check the Fairtrade Foundation's website to see what products should be on offer . . . and if they aren't, ask for them. You can also try going to one of our local specialised Fair Trade shops, which often supply the widest range of products -- or order online or by mail.

Frequently Asked Questions about Point (iii)

Q:What does it mean to promote Fairtrade? Are we going to have to do massive stalls?

A: Some churches, particularly smaller ones, are quite concerned about point (iii) -- they fear that as tiny congregations they may be asked to undertake projects that are beyond their capabilities. But not to worry! What you do to promote Fairtrade really depends on what is appropriate given the size and nature of your church. In a small village church, a poster up at a Fairtrade coffee morning or a notice in the church magasine will form important contributions. Larger congregations can work on more ambitious projects. What matters is that you do what you can -- not what you can't. That said, never underestimate what a small group of enthusiastic people can do.

Promoting Fair Trade -- Communicating the Message

Churches can help their congregations and others to learn more about Fair Trade -- what it is, how it fits within a Christian context, how it benefits producers, and where to find fairly traded products for retail or wholesale.

POSTERS

The Fairtrade Foundation, Traidcraft and other organisations produce attractive, colourful posters that many churches find very helpful. Churches in dual-use buildings and churches with halls that are used by a wide variety of organisations can find this a particularly effective way of spreading the word beyond their congregations. To obtain copies of available Fairtrade Foundation’s posters, go to the Fairtrade Foundation's online ordering page or ring 020 7440 7676. New posters come out for Fairtrade Fortnight each year. A simple Fair Trade A4 poster can be downloaded at the BAFTS website .

You can also make your own signs -- Wheatley United Reformed Church has, in addition to the Fairtrade Foundation posters, a notice in its kitchen stating that it is a Fairtrade Church and requesting that those who hire the kitchen use Fairtrade products if possible. And a member of the Oxford Friends’ Meeting House has done delightful, humorous signs with a Fairtrade message that festoon the Meeting House kitchen. Be sure, though, that if you make a sign with the FAIRTRADE Mark on it, you are conforming to the Fairtrade Foundation’s guidelines for use of the logo .

NEWSLETTERS, MAGAZINES AND WEBSITES

A note telling where to find Fair Trade products? A list of local Fairtrade Fortnight events? Information about what Fair Trade means? A Fair Trade prayer? The story of a producer? A few paragraphs on the theology of Fair Trade? There are so many ways that you can introduce Fair Trade into your newsletter!

Some newsletter offerings can be seen on the internet: one from St Andrew’s Clewer, for example, offers a calendar for Fairtrade Fortnight (www.standrewsclewer.org.uk/pdf/MessengerMarch2004.pdf). For a ready-made piece for your newsletter, try some of the articles from Traidcraft . CCOW also creates materials available for magazine use; to join our Fair Trade email list, send an email to maranda@ccow.org.uk with FT List in the title.

Speaking of the web . . . what about the church website? If you’re a Fairtrade Church, you can proclaim it on your site as Deanway United Church in Chalfont St Giles does. Anglican churches in the Oxford Diocese have an easy way to do this; when you are listing your church’s features on the diocesan “A Church Near You" feature, just click on the “Fairtrade church” option to add a small Fairtrade sign to your entry. Another good idea is to follow the lead of churches like the Roman Catholic parish of St. George Buckland and Blessed Hugh Faringdon and offer links to Fair Trade organizations both local and national.

LOCAL MEDIA

Having an exciting Fair Trade event? Getting it into the media can help interest people in the event and raise the profile of Fair Trade issues at the same time. If you’re contacting local media, a good press release will help get your story noticed. A press release doesn’t have to be elaborate – just give WHEN and WHERE the event will be occurring, WHAT will be happening, and WHO is involved. And don’t forget the WHY – a few sentences that say what Fair Trade is and why you’re involved with it. Be sure also to give contact details in case the radio station/paper wants to contact you to ask any questions. If you don’t hear from them, follow up your press release with a phone call. If you’re sending your release to newspapers beforehand, you can add a note explaining what photo opportunities might be available. If you’re sending the release to papers after the event, send your own pictures. [Make sure that you have permission from parents if the pictures include children]

Local radio can also be very helpful – our area is covered by BBC Radio Oxford, BBC Three Counties Radio and BBC Radio Berkshire. Numbers for “phoning in” stories and email addresses are on their websites (go to www.bbc.co.uk/and in the phone books. You might also like to try commercial radio stations, such as Fox FM, and/or your local Christian station. If you have an event which is particularly visual, it might be worth sending your press release to television stations, also.

Denominational papers are also often happy to carry stories about churches’ Fairtrade events. Email your press releases to The Door (door@oxford.anglican.org), the Methodist Recorder (see guidelines at www.methodistrecorder.co.uk/mrwrite.htm), the Baptist Times (see contact details at baptisttimes.co.uk/contactu.htm), or the United Reformed Church’s “Reform” (reform@urc.org.uk).

LOCAL FAIR TRADE GUIDES “But where can I find Fairtrade goods?”

If people in your congregation or wider community don’t know how to access Fairtrade products, you can produce a local guide to help them. Depending on the size of your town, this can be either a small or a fairly large project. If it’s the latter, it’s a great one to do ecumenically – divide shopping areas up amongst the churches, and let the survey begin! A committee of Churches Together for Chesham, which has been one of the driving forces in Chesham’s Fairtrade Town campaign, recently put out a listing of Fairtrade outlets in the town; it’s an invaluable resource. There are different formats for such guides: you might choose simply to list the names of shops that carry Fairtrade products. Or perhaps you would like to indicate which products are sold where – many people find this helpful, though it does need more frequent updating. One enterprising church did a “shopping list” of Fairtrade products, listing items and putting under each the locations where it could be purchased. If you’d like to look on the web at some examples from different-sized towns and cities, try www.Fairtrade4Chesham.co.uk, www.faringdonfairtrade.org.uk/Get_Involved_/Directory/directory.html, www.mkfairtrade.org.uk (Milton Keynes), www.oxfordfairtrade.org.uk (a web-based version of the Oxford print guide), and www.risc.org.uk/readingfairtrade/shopping.htm. (There’s also a web guide for Reading, www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/features/2004/03/fairtrade_shops.shtml.) CCOW has hard copies of the Chesham, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Reading and Slough guides.

TAKING THE FAIRTRADE MESSAGE WITH YOU WHEN YOU SHOP

Who would have thought, even five years ago, that by 2005 Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Marks and Spencers’ Café Revive, AMT, and Pret a Manger would all be offering Fairtrade beverages? And AMT and Marks and Spencers Café Revive don’t offer any other kind of coffee! There are also numerous independent restaurants that serve Fairtrade beverages. But there are still a lot of cafes and restaurants that don’t offer any Fairtrade option. To help people who want to change this, the Fairtrade Foundation has produced “Order up” cards. The card, designed to be handed in at your favourite eating and drinking spots, signals your request for Fairtrade products – and has a detachable component that the restauranteur can mail in to receive details of how to access commercial Fairtrade suppliers. Why not hand these out in church, explaining how to use them and encouraging members to hand them in to their favourite eateries? CCOW has copies available.

Promoting Fair Trade -- Fair Trade Stalls

Your church can help widen the market for fairly traded goods by increasing people's ability to access them.

Fair Trade Stalls

Setting up a Fair Trade stall in your church can be a good way to introduce a congregation to Fair Trade, to offer a wider range of Fair Trade products than is available in many shops, and to assist parishioners who find getting to shops difficult.

Most Fair Traders sell goods from either Traidcraft or Tearcraft. Traidcraft offers a wide range of its own foods as well as clothing, jewelry, home furnishings, stationery and crafts. Tearcraft offers jewelry and accessories, home furnishings, stationery and crafts.

You can order online or by mail. If you are going to be placing regular, fairly large orders, consider becoming a "Fair Trader" (Traidcraft rep) or Tearcraft rep. This can give you access to discounts, a credit account with the organisation, promotional materials, and advance screenings of the companies' lines.

If you are just starting off and are concerned about buying goods without being sure you can sell them, many local Fair Trade shops and also Traidcraft “key contacts” will do a sale or return box. Contact Traidcraft at 0191 491 0591 to find the number for your local key contact or go to the Tearcraft sellers list for a postcode listing of all Tearcraft sellers.

Some church stall holders also buy in stocks of Fair Trade foods from local shops or supermarkets for resale. This allows them to bring in fresh goods (such as bananas) and also to indicate which local shops sell Fairtrade products.

Fair Trade Stalls with a Plus

Some churches occasionally have more specialised Fair Trade producers or importers come in for “one-off” sales. Wheatley URC, for example, had a talk during their service by Colin and Carol Morton who run Hadeel, followed by a sale during coffee. And St. Matthew's, in Oxford, had a series of different retailers in over a period of time. Have a look at our list of local Fair Trade shops and Fair Trade representatives for ideas.

And if you want to take the opportunity outside the church . . . why not follow the lead of one local congregation which has proposed having a stall in the local car boot sale, as a way of having a Christian presence at the event and promoting Fair Trade at the same time.

Supply Chains for Fair Trade Stalls

If you're a small church, ordering Fair Trade goods for a stall may seem problematic – as may storage of the goods in between stalls.

A number of area churches cluster together to order as a group: in one town, for example, two Anglican churches work together; in another, the local Roman Catholic and Anglican churches share a common store of goods.

In two areas – Abingdon and Milton Keynes – large numbers of churches, groups and/or individuals have joined together to create a single entity that orders for all. This has the benefit of ease – and of enabling small churches to benefit from the economies of scale that large orders produce.

The Abingdon Traidcraft Group is a task force of Abingdon's Churches Together group. It has a network of 20 member churches and “Regular Local Customers” as well as sharing a retail outlet with the “Action for Children in Conflict” charity shop. Members are able to order online via the group's website. Deliveries are made to, and can be collected from, the shop.

Milton Keynes' “Just Trading” is the trading arm of the Milton Keynes Peace and Justice Network. Based at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone, it sells Traidcraft products through a kiosk in the church, but also supplies large numbers of area churches. Deliveries are made to Christ the Cornerstone, whence churches can pick up their orders. For further information