Plans To Make Ely A Fairtrade City
A COUPLE from Ely are campaigning to make Ely an official Fairtrade City and are urging as many people as possible to sign-up. Ben and Pauline Jupp, have been keen supporters of the worldwide movement for a number of years and, together with local group t
A COUPLE from Ely are campaigning to make Ely an official Fairtrade City and are urging as many people as possible to sign-up.
Ben and Pauline Jupp, have been keen supporters of the worldwide movement for a number of years and, together with local group the Fairtrade Forum, are aiming to help Ely join cities like Edinburgh and London on the Fairtrade map.
Ben, who is secretary of the local Fairtrade Forum, has been hard at work with the group in recent months persuading local businesses, schools and churches to register as Fairtrade and is pleased with how things have gathered momentum,
"The Churches Together in Ely group has signed up as 100 per cent Fairtrade and we are working hard to make Ely a Fairtrade Diocese as well.
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"I think most if not all of the schools in the area have made the switch and we have had a lot of local businesses agree to sign up also so things have really moved along nicely," he said.
The Fairtrade movement started in the late 80s in the Netherlands and quickly gathered pace, spreading across Europe by the end of the 90s. The movement gradually gained widespread public recognition in the early part of the 21st century and now has 435 towns signed up.
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Fairtrade's mission is to work with businesses, community groups and individuals to improve the trading position of the producer organisations in developing countries and to deliver sustainable livelihoods for farmers, workers and their communities.
The Jupps are due to meet with representatives of the Fairtrade Foundation, the hub of the international movement, in the coming weeks and if they are given the seal of approval they will lodge an official motion in the city council in the Autumn.
Pauline added: "We met with city councillors earlier this year about getting the bid started and we are hoping we will have a good case to present to them in October.
"If we do get Fairtrade status it will mean we are able to run a lot of events in the city and hopefully get more people involved."
INFO: For more information about Fairtrade contact:
1193HD0809: Ben and Pauline Jupp with Ely Fairtrade chairman Chris Hald who are aiming to make Ely a Fairtrade City.
Photo: HELEN DRAKE
