Click here for current news of Fairtrade in the Borough.
Hammersmith & Fulham goes Fairtrade:
so how did it happen?
Let’s go for it!
The Hammersmith and Fulham Local Agenda 21 Forum claims much credit for this achievement. At its meeting on 31 October, 2002, Mary Corrall who for several years had organised events to mark One World Week introduced the concept of Five Goals for a Fairtrade Town which had been welcomed in other communities in the country. It was agreed that we should encourage this initiative but this would require the Borough and the community to achieve a range of performance criteria to qualify as a Fairtrade Town. These would include a number of retail outlets and restaurants offering at least two products carrying the Fairtrade mark, determined by the Borough’s population. Cllr Andrew Jones, the Council’s representative on the Committee, offered to progress the proposal, requesting Cllr Cartwright, then Deputy for Environment & Contract Services, to investigate its catering contract and the promotion of ‘Fairtrade’ catering. Meanwhile, in February 2003, the Forum organised a special meeting “Thinking Out of the Box” to raise awareness of the issue.
Stalled negotiations
Negotiations with the Borough stalled during 2003 and in November, the committee asked Matt Dunckley, Chairman, and Cllr Jones to elicit from the Council a statement identifying potential obstacles to further progress. At its Christmas Party, the Forum debated the Borough’s putative Fairtrade status, asking how many participating shops and restaurants are there in the Borough, how many on-side Councillors do we need, and what follows when we succeed? In January 2004, the Fairtrade Fortnight campaign “A Taste for Life” was planned for 1-14 March, to be held at Sainsbury’s, Fulham Broadway. Progress towards Fairtrade status remained stalled and Matt Dunckley wrote again to Cllr Cartwright. Later that year, the Chairman wrote in the Annual Report:
“Fairtrade: We continue to support efforts to raise awareness of the links between local actions and worldwide equity in trade and development. In particular, members participated in Fairtrade Fortnight and One World Week and have lobbied the Council to promote fairtrade across the Borough with the aim of gaining “Fairtrade Town” borough status. This was also a chosen project for the Children’s Parliament, organised by the Urban Studies Centre.”
Progress at last!
On 17 May, Cllr Jones reported progress as Cllr Cartwright had circulated a Green Paper to fellow councillors. On 16 August, Mary Corrall announced that there would be a public meeting on 17 September in the Town Hall chaired by Cllr Andrew Jones, bringing together council officers, the Forum and members of the community at large. A later meeting heard about Camden Council’s experiences and the importance of agreeing an Action Plan. Meanwhile, Melcombe Primary School, a participant in the Childrens Parliament on 17 November chose Fairtrade as its subject, the third school to do so.
The Forum set up a Fairtrade sub-committee on 29 October 2004. It identified its goals as: Goal 1, Confirmation of Council support;
Goal 2, Availability of Fairtrade products in shops and offices;
Goal 3, Use of Fairtrade products in local workplaces and community organisations;
Goal 4, Publicity
Goal 5, Setting up of a dedicated Steering Group
The accompanying Action Plan sought to achieve Goals 2, 3 & 4 by 16 December and Goal 1 would be presented to the Borough Scrutiny Panel on 17 January 2005 together with a Resolution to the Leader’s Committee in February. On 26 January, the Forum heard an address by Val Darbyshire of the Co-op Group. She welcomed the Forum’s initiative to make Hammersmith and Fulham a Fairtrade Borough and stated that the Co-op Groupcould assist in providing products for tasting sessions and support other events. At the same meeting, Richard Adam, the principal Council Liaison Officer, reported that a Council Resolution, modelled on the Fairtrade Foundation template, could be tabled for its meetingon 23 February. On 8 March, the Council introduced Fairtrade products in the Town Hall canteen and other locations and also agreed to fund a campaign leaflet.
The community responds
Now we needed to ensure Fairtrade products would be available in shops and offices, Eugene Cooper, Friends of the Earth, reported that, in the Borough, his team has identified 28 retail outlets stocking more than one Fairtrade products, so 5 more were needed. Also, of the required 17 restaurants and cafes, 12 had been identified. He confirmed that the survey would continue. Concerning the use of Fairtrade products in local workplaces and community organisations, Mary Corrall reported that 50% of all the Borough’s churches are required to offer Fairtrade goods but so far only 38% of those identified do so. Efforts would be made to contact places of worship for other faiths and schools also. Publicity and the Action Plan Initiatives (Goal 4) would include displays in food shops and, during One World Week, in the Hammersmith Library which would be accompanied by informative leaflets. A strategy using Hammersmith Today and HFM was drawn up. With the formationof the Fairtrade Steering Group (Goal 5), chaired by Cllr Jones, the programme gathered pace. Fairtrade Fortnight (1-13 March) featured two Ghanaian farmers providing cocoa beans for the production of Divine chocolate, then touring the UK. They participated in apresentation at the new Vegetarian Restaurant, 222 North End Road, owned by a Ghanaian, which was attended by the Mayor and Councillors.
The Council confirms
On 3 March 2005, Cllr Jones reported that the Council’s Finance Committee had agreed to support the initiative. With regard to the attainment of goals concerning the penetration of Fairtrade products in shops and offices, the Fairtrade Foundation agreed to revise downwards our target. The Borough’s Fairtrade status was recognised on 16 December 2005. The successful launch in Lyric Square on 4 March was attended by the Council Leader, the Mayor and some hundreds of people throughout the day. The Fairtrade product guide was launched and distributed and the Fairtrade banner, funded by the Forum, was displayed. The Forum organised a meeting on 9 March at Chez Kristof, Hammersmith Grove addressed by Maria Sergeant, a banana grower from St Vincent. The Council Leaderand Cllr Stephen Cowan also addressed the meeting which was attended by pupils of Flora Gardens Primary School and who had created a large, colourful wall hanging on the subject of Fairtrade. The Woodcraft Folk had created another on the subject. The Forum organised a Tasting Stall at Fulham Broadway Methodist Church on 18 March and organised an LA21 Stand in Kings Mall promoting Fairtrade as part of the Hammersmith festival. A guide to Fairtrade outlets costing £500 was prepared.
Congratulations to all!
Mary Corrall thanked all those who had participated in this achievement and the Forum congratulated her on the manner she had driven the project forward.
Click here for current news of Fairtrade in the Borough.
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