Carlisle Fairtrade

You can also keep up with us on facebook and Twitter. Welcome to Carlisle Fairtrade’s website-here you can search where to eat, drink and stay Fairtrade in Carlisle and keep up to date on Fairtrade activities going on in Carlisle.

Carlisle Fairtrade Group have been celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight this year with an invite to sit down for breakfast and stand up for farmers at a Fairtrade Big Breakfast and Coffee Moring event on March 12th. We were delighted to welcome along VIP guest visitor, Luz Marina, Colombian Coffee Farmer.

Mayor Cllr. Steven Layden receives a Fairtrade sticker from Alice Feeney.

Luz Marina and Chris from the Fairtrade Foundation

Millie, Annaliese and Alice enjoy Fairtrade activities provided by CDEC

Debbie from CDEC teaching Alice about Fairtrade

Joe Human MBE and Fairtrade VIP’s enjoying a cup of coffee.

Geoff Toogood promoting the Co-operative and Fairtrade

Luz and Claire Feeney, Fairtrade Coordinator for Carlisle.

Carlisle has done it again!! Carlisle has successfully achieved Fairtrade City again….

10 years a Fairtrade City!!

News of an upcoming special event on Tuesday October 6th:

Fairtrade Steering Group volunteers went in to Stranwix School to help with a fantastic Fairtrade Day where over 400 students engaged with all kinds of Fairtrade activity-a truly fabulous day.

Fascinating facts about Fairtrade

Learning about where our food comes from

Learning about Fairtrade bananas

Learning about the cocoa trade and Fairtrade

Images of Malawi before the bush tucker trial

James Rennie School are teaming up with a number of other local schools to walk a stretch of the Cumbria Fair Trade Way in June-good luck to all taking part!

The highlight of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight was a Fairtrade Schools Conference event which took place at Carlisle’s Youth Zone. This engaged student and teacher delegates alike and explored concepts and ideas around Fairtrade. Attendees were treated to a first hand account of how Fairtrade has benefitted a community in Belize through a presentation by Alvaro pop, a Fairtrade cocoa producer.

This Fairtrade Fortnight (23 February – 8 March) we celebrated the power of everyday choices by telling the other half of a product’s story – the producer’s – to show the difference Fairtrade makes.

Carlisle will celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight with a number of events including bag packing in banana suits in the Sainsbury’s store on Saturday 21st February….even the Mayor is getting involved!

A Fairtrade and Christian Aid coffee morning is also being organised on February 28th:

The last Fair Trade Way walk took place on World Fair Trade Day, Saturday 10th May from the Sands Centre, Carlisle finished up in Brampton. A distance of around 10 miles. This walk was very well supported and our guest walker was Bruce Crowther, creator of the Fairtrade towns movement. Please click on the link to open map of the Cumbria Fair Trade Way walking route. 97981_97981 Fair Trade Walking_p1-3-2

Fairtrade Fortnight 2014 ran from24th February-9th March 2014, the Fairtrade Foundation asked supporters to Stick with Foncho and help make bananas fair! You can still sign the online petition here

Here are some of the activities that happened in Carlisle:

Fair Trade Fashion Show

On 25th February, University of Cumbria Students Union hosted a Fair Trade Fashion Show at Unit Bar, Botchergate, Carlisle where Fairtrade clothing were showcased by Carlisle World Shop and Victoria’s of Penrith.

Koolskools Fairtrade clothing company

On 28th February will see Koolskools visited a number of local primary schools in the area to deliver assemblies on ethical clothing and Fairtrade school uniforms. See http://www.koolskools.co.uk/ for more information.

Fairtrade Wine Tasting

James Rennie School hosted a Fairtrade wine tasting eveing with Julian Whittle, writer for The Cumberland News on Friday 7th March. A fantastic event.

Fairtrade & Christian Aid ‘Local & Global’ Coffee Morning

This took place on Saturday 9th March at the Border Kirk from 10am-12pm. Fairtrade refreshments and home baking were enjoyed by all. This year, Fair Food Carlisle joined us and there was also a stall by Carlisle World Shop.

Did you have your shopping packed by a banana? Carlisle Fairtrade group were doing just that back in November 2013- bag packing in banana suits in the Cooperative store on Wigton Rd. They also gave out free Divine chocolate tasters…hmmm.

The Fairtrade Supporter Conference took place on October 5th. Youngest attendee, Hannah was lucky enough to have her picture taken with Michael Gidney, CEO of the Fairtrade Foundation.

A group of Fairtrade supporters walked The Fair Trade Way on September 28th. The sun shone on the 25 or so who joined in for the free community walk which started from the Co-operative, Dalston to The Old Engine House, West Walls, Carlisle (a distance of around 5 miles).

Running the British 10km race in London to raise funds for the Fairtrade Foundation was a fantastic experience for Claire Feeney, Fairtrade Coordinator in Carlisle. As one of 12 runners for Team Fair, it was a great opportunity to raise funding and awareness of Fairtrade.

Fairtrade supporters were at this years Cumberland Show with a first for Carlisle Fairtrade: a Fairtrade chocolate fountain!

Carlisle Fairtrade celebrated this years World Fair Trade Day on 11th May by extending the Fair Trade Way once again. This years walk started from the Off the Wall Café, Brampton and finished at the Samson Inn, Gilsland.

The Fairtrade Art Exhibition at Tullie House was on show for the duration

of Fairtrade Fortnight with Fairtrade art creations by schools and other

organisations across the county.

Carlisle Fairtrade Group is delighted to announce the successful renewal of Carlisle’s Fairtrade City status for the 4th time and has recently enjoyed a string of successful events during Fairtrade Fortnight.

A Fairtrade Civic Reception hosted by Carlisle Mayor, Cllr. David Wilson saw around 40 representatives from local businesses, community organisations, shops, faith groups and schools receive Fairtrade certificates in recognition of their support for Fairtrade.

Fairtrade Fortnight ran from 25th February-10th March and there were lots of ways to ‘Go Further’ for Fairtrade in Carlisle 2013.

There was an exclusive chance to meet a Fairtrade producer in Carlisle, Douglas Recinos, coffee producer from Guatemala gave an inspiring talk at the Carlisle One World Centre on 6th March.

Ever had your shopping packed by a banana? Well this Fairtrade Fortnight was your chance! On 9th March in Sainsbury’s, Caldewgate, there were Fairtrade volunteers bag packing and some went a step further and bag packed dressed as bananas!

Carlisle Fairtrade is supported last years Santa dash, organised by the Eden Valley Hospice on Sunday 2nd December. Fairtrade refreshments were available. All who took part enjoyed a fantastic atmosphere.

Carlisle Fairtrade are delighted to have won national recognition from the Fairtrade Foundation and have come runners up in the National Fairtrade Campaign Awards 2012. The ‘Highly Commended’ award for ‘campaigning excellence’ was in recognition of the achievements of the Fairtrade Schools Conference event, hosted by James Rennie School during this years Fairtrade Fortnight. 20 schools from across Carlisle and North Cumbria took part in what was a truly inspirational day.

Carlisle Fairtrade win national recognition by Fairtrade Foundation and achieve the ‘highly commended’ award for campaign excellence

Supporters of Carlisle Fairtrade were out in force to support Christian Aid’s Tax Justice bus tour in Carlisle City Centre to help highlight tax justice issues.

Rachael Rodway, Chair of Carlisle One World Centre, presents Mayor, Cllr. Wilson with a cake made with Fairtrade ingredients.

Carlisle’s Mayor, Cllr. Wilson was presented with a cake made from Fairtrade ingredients in support of the Fairtrade Foundation’s Big Fair Bake campaign. Rachael Rodway, Chair of Carlisle One World Centre presents the cake in Carlisle City Centre.

Carlisle Fairtrade walked the Fairtrade Way… again! Another walk was organised by on 22nd September. A bold volunteer donned the banana suit and walked the 10 mile route from Carlisle to Brampton with a pedometre to count the number of banana steps. The walk started at Carlisle World Shop and finished up at the Off The Wall Cafe in Brampton. A great day was had by all!

Fairtrade Supporters walk from Carlisle to Brampton to raise awareness for Fairtrade

The Tour of Britain arrived in Carlisle and Fairtrade supporters were amongst the crowds giving out free Fairtrade bananas, generously donated by the Co-operative and a free Tour of Britain guide.

Fairtrade supporters give out Fairtrade bananas in Carlisle City Centre

Carlisle hosted the Traidcraft Roadshow on Thursday August 2nd at the Tithe Barn, Carlisle. It was an exclusive chance to preview new Traidcraft products and to be inspired by the ‘more than just’ committment of Traidcraft to help producers in the developing world.

The Traidcraft roadshow is coming to town!

On Sunday 8th July Claire Feeney, Fairtrade Coordinator in Carlisle ran the British 10km race in London as part of ‘Team Fair’ to raise funds for the Fairtrade Foundation’s Innovation Fund. Claire, was 1 of only 12 chosen in a ballot to run alongside 30,000 others who took part in the event, just days before the start of the 2012 Olympics.

At the start of the British 10 km run

Carlisle Fairtrade also had a presence at this years Culture Bazaar which was held at Richard Rose Central Academy on July 8th. A vibrant event celebrating many different cultures with lots of activities and food from around the world.

A very successful Fairtrade Fashion Show took place at James Rennie School on 31st May- it was a truly fun and feel good event. Fairtrade clothing labels from Carlisle World Shop was showcased on the catwalk.

How many steps does it take a banana to walk from Caldbeck to Dalston? We now have the answer-it took our top banana 21984 steps to walk the 11 mile route! The sun shone this World Fair Trade Day, May 12th. Carlisle and Caldbeck Fair Trade Groups organised a walk from Caldbeck to Dalston, Carlisle as an extension of the Fair Trade Way, which originally starts off in Garstang, Lancashire, the world’s first Fairtrade Town. Members of the Carlisle Youth Zone, Carlisle Ramblers, Tullie House Yak Yak group, school chidren and Fairtrade fans all took part to ‘take a step’ for Fairtrade.

Katie Smith walks 11 miles dressed like a Fairtrade banana!

Katie, Sally & Christian: our top bananas!

The 11 mile walkers

It was a fantastic Fairtrade Fortnight in Carlisle. The ‘Take a step’ campaign has inspired all kinds of activities. There’s been lots going on throughout the city & it all kicked off with a Malawi evening, with special guest speaker Francis Chisuse from Malawi.

This was followed by a very successful Fairtrade Schools Conference at James Rennie School whereby James Rennie became Carlisle’s 2nd Fairtrade School. Huge Congratulations to all at James Rennie School. Who will be Carlisle’s 3rd school to receive the Fairtrade Schools award?

Joe Human MBE talks with students

There were 2 Fairtrade coffee mornings in the Old Town Hall, a Fairtrade Walking Tour with the U3A and a Fairtrade & Vintage Fashion Show at William Howard School, Brampton and the Cumbria Fair Trade Network AGM took place the following day.

A big thankyou to all who supported Fairtrade Fortnight-it’s over now but don’t stop the stepping! Please register your steps for Fairtrade at http://step.fairtrade.org.uk/

A Fairtrade Walking Tour of Carlisle City Centre took place in mid December 2011 as members of the Carlisle Youth Zone visited John Watts Coffee Shop, the Priors Kitchen, Foxes, Wholesome! Dove’s Cafe & the Carlisle World Shop for talks, freebies and tasters.

Huge thanks all the support for Carlisle Fairtrade’s log cabin at the “Making Carlisle Magical This Christmas” Traditional Christmas Market held recently in Carlisle City Centre. Warming festive Fairtrade refreshments and home baking were served using Fairtrade & local ingredients where possible.

After the very successful Local and Fair Conference at Rheged in November full workshop reports are now available at www.cumbriafairtrade.org.uk

In September Carlisle Fairtrade Group hosted it’s first ever Fairtrade Walking Tour. Participants were led to various shops and coffee shops around the city and were treated to Fairtrade freebies! There were visits to the Prior’s Kitchen, Foxes, Wholesome! The Shambala Centre, Doves Coffee Shop, John Watts Victorian Coffee Shop & Carlisle World Shop.

Fairtrade Walking Tour outside Carlisle World Shop

The BIG event of the year was a great success-despite the weather. The BIG Fairtrade Garden Party at Morton Manor was a feast of Fairtrade fun for all the family, featuring afternoon tea with fashion parade, a wide range of stalls to browse, decorate a cup cake competition, beat the goalie, jewellery making, a children’s choir and lots more! Fairtrade fashion and Fairtrade roses Please see our new leaflet that we would like to place in cafes and restaurants in Carlisle Ten Good Reasons to support Fairtrade -please contact us if you would be interested in displaying one of these in your cafe or restaurant. Sponsored by: .