We were delighted to be back together with Fair Trade campaigners at this year’s Campaigner Conference in Linlithgow

We hadn’t met in-person with Fair Trade campaigners since 2019, so it was really great to come together to celebrate what’s been achieved over these last few years, and to inspire our future Fair Trade campaigning.

Our programme started with a warm welcome from Peter Heggie, Depute Provost of West Lothian who said:

“I am proud to recognise West Lothian’s involvement over the years with Fair Trade and to say a special thanks to those involved including Andy Mount, Anne Walsh and of course many others. It’s Important to keep supporting Fair Trade in West Lothian as part of our Fair Trade Nation. Thank you to the Linlithgow group for hosting the Campaigner Conference and for their continued campaigning for Fair Trade. I wanted to mention the local schools and guides who have helped with the Fairtrade cotton bunting and to the Crannog Café for their Fair Trade catering. I am very pleased that West Lothian is a member of the Scottish Fair Trade Forum and I would like to welcome you all to the Campaigner Conference this year. I hope everyone has a great day”.

A very big thank you from us to West Lothian Council for supporting our Conference. Thanks also go to Douglas Benson of West Lothian Council and to Ian Fowell and Linlithgow Fairtrade Partnership for hosting us and for all of your help with all of the conference arrangements, and with our bunting.

Our bunting stretched approximately 35 metres. It was made from Fairtrade cotton donated by Koolskools, and each piece of bunting was designed by young people from three local schools (Springfield Primary, Linlithgow Bridge Primary, and St. Joseph’s Primary) and by the 1st Linlithgow Guides. Thank you to Karri Byrne from the Linlithgow group who helped make the bunting happen and to the teachers, learners and Guides who contributed to making it look so great.

We were delighted to welcome Stefan Donnelly of the Fairtrade Foundation who provided us with a few updates, including about Fairtrade Fortnight 2023 and the Foundation’s Sow Your Solidarity Campaign. We had native wildflower seeds to give out and were asking attendees to take action on the climate crisis. Find Stefan’s presentation here.

We then went on to hear from Ian Fowell about Linlithgow Fairtrade Partnership’s timeline – their successes, challenges and plans for the future. It was a great opportunity for campaigners to hear about the group’s activities. Ian’s presentation is here.

We were then joined by Tabitha Nyariki, Race Equality Charter Project Officer at Glasgow Caledonian University. Tabitha is a former volunteer of ours and joined us at our AGM in 2022 as a member of our Board. We all know that youth engagement in the Fair Trade movement is vital moving forward, and Tabitha presented her experiences as a young Race Equality campaigner who also represented GCU at the UN Climate Change Conference of Youth back in 2021.

Tabitha’s presentation is here.

Kiera Wilkins then introduced The Alternative Coffee Company, and we had a pre-recorded message from one of the suppliers to the Company, Japhet Habimana of Cocagi Coffee in Rwanda, who gives us an insight into the co-operative and the difference Fairtrade makes to the community. Please see Japhet’s contribution here and Kiera’s presentation here.

Our catering was supplied by the Crannog Café in Linlithgow. They have used a range of Fair Trade ingredients and served a lunch using Malawi Fair Trade Kilombero rice and Fairtrade sauces supplied by JTS along with other locally sourced ingredients. Thanks go to Shonagh Brown and her team for baking and cooking for us.

We were delighted to have so many stall holders present – those with Fair Trade items to sell and taste, and those providing us with information. And some people took the opportunity to begin their Christmas shopping!

We also made a start to our Fair Trade in Scotland timeline, where there was a chance for campaigners to add their group’s, business’s, school’s, faith group’s, organisation’s or other significant Fair Trade event to the timeline. Our timeline will become available to view online by way of a celebration of Scotland’s Fair Trade story. If you have entries to add, please email info@sftf.org.uk.

During lunch, we were delighted to be joined by Neil Gray MSP, Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development who had the opportunity to meet Fair Trade campaigners and businesses. The Minister also opened our afternoon session, and we thank him for his time and his words of support for Fair Trade. Mr Gray’s speech is available below.

Lunchtime also provided an opportunity for our Chair, Charles Sim to present a few certificates in person to award winners of this year’s Scottish Fair Trade Awards which took place on 10th November. One of those winners was Anne Walsh of West Lothian’s Fairtrade Group who received a Special Recognition Award, from Charles and from Peter Heggie, Depute Provost of West Lothian and Councillor Pauline Orr, for her longstanding commitment to Fair Trade campaigning. Rainbow Turtle and Mary Popple of JTS and St Andrews Fairtrade Town Campaign were also awarded certificates. Find out about all the winners here.

We then went on to consider the refreshment of the criteria for Fair Trade Nation status from Aileen Burmeister, Head of Fair Trade Wales and from Martin Rhodes, our Chief Executive. See their presentation.

Finally, we were very pleased to have Sandra Cobbinah, of Asunafo Cocoa Farmers’ Union join us online to outline some of the challenges faced by Ghana’s cocoa farmers. Find Sandra’s presentation here. The idea was to end the Conference with the producer message at the forefront of our minds as we continue our Fair Trade campaigning.

Thank you to everyone who made this year’s Fair Trade Campaigner Conference such a great celebration of Scotland’s continuing commitment to Fair Trade and to the farmers, workers and artisans around the world who produce the things we like to buy and who deserve trade and climate justice.