This month we have another simple action you can take from the comfort of your own home to help spread the word about Shared Interest. Simply by writing a letter, or email, in to a national or local paper. For more detail and a recent example of a member’s letter to the Guardian please see here and the original article here.
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Click here to learn how you can invest in fair trade. Click here to donate to the Shared Interest Foundation |
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April and May have provided many opportunities for business networking, and the chance to meet entrepreneurs from the social enterprise and co-operative sectors.
I attended the Scottish Social Enterprise Trade Fair in April, where there were many exhibitors, from CIC to Triodos, Charity Bank and the Social Audit Network. Throughout the day there were many presentations and the chance to share ideas with like-minded organisations.
The Co-operatives North East event took place in April and I was involved as one of the speakers, explaining Shared Interest’s role in fair trade. The intention of the afternoon was to demonstrate the diversity of the co-operative businesses in the North East economy, so I was delighted to be on hand to deliver the success story of how our organisation has touched the lives of thousands of people in the developing world.
Two business networking events taking place in the region this month; I attended the Durham Business Club together with Patrick Dodd our Marketing Manager and Network North’s lunchtime event in Newcastle upon Tyne. I had the opportunity to chat with a variety of companies who already had Corporate Responsibility Statements in place and I hope to increase the number of corporate accounts over the coming months.
Thank you to Elsa Fairbanks, member and Ambassador, for inviting me to a ‘Learning Lunch’ at Yorkshire Forward in Leeds. Over thirty attendees came along to the Shared Interest presentation and joined in a discussion about fair trade. Many valuable contacts were made in the region.
If you think your workplace or community group would benefit from a ‘Learning Lunch’ about fair trade and Shared Interest please get in touch either with myself if you’re based in the North, or Sarah.
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Click here to learn how you can invest in fair trade. Click here to donate to the Shared Interest Foundation |
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I have been venturing outside of my ‘South East’ zone this month to venture westward. At the beginning of the month I headed to Bristol for the ‘Cotton On’ conference which was organised by one of our very own Ambassadors and attended by at least one other Ambassador. ‘Cotton On’ looked at the issues of ethical fashion, organic materials and fairtrade certification. There was a very lively conclusion to the day with an ‘Open Space’ session to generate ideas for taking action. Between the representatives of Shared interest we generated a table of around 10 interested people to discuss how the current financial situation could be seen as an opportunity to challenge existing financial structures and support organisations like Shared Interest.
Some dates for your diary:
Saturday 6th June, 10.30 – 16.00 – Bang the Drum for Fairtrade, this is Fairtrade Wales’ annual conference and takes place in Carmarthen. Shared Interest will have a stall at the conference which I will be manning and also getting involved in the activities there. If anyone is able to attend or interested in finding out more please get in touch.
Sunday 7th June, 12-5pm- Queensbury Eco- Cultural Festival – this is an event to Celebration with workshops, performances, stalls and children’s activities, highlights include environmental issues, recycling, green transport and climate change. Shared Interest has a stall at this event and I would appreciate any assistance with running the stall.
Monday 15th June, 18.30 – 21.00 – Fairtrade Mini Meet Up. I will be talking about Shared Interest to a local group of fairtrade supporters in London at this event in conjunction with 21st Century Network. 21st Century Network is a group of those who believe that the values of tolerance, global compassion, personal self-discovery, shared development; planetary concern and a love of community are essential for our survival. Please get in touch if you are interested in this event or the network.
Saturday 20thJune, Environment Day at Holland Park 11am-6pm. We will be having a stall at this event in Holland Park and I’d appreciate any offers of assistance running the stall which will have information about Shared Interest.
Sunday 12th July, Cutty Sark Fair 11.00-16.00. This fair is being organised by one of our members who runs a fairtrade shop in Brighton and looks to attract a great audience. Again, I’ll be running a stall there and any help would be appreciated.
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Click here to learn how you can invest in fair trade. Click here to donate to the Shared Interest Foundation |
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Are you a member of your local Fairtrade steering group or do you have any contact with them? Do you have links with a Fairtrade school, church, or university? If so we would really appreciate it if you could please send us an email detailing what involvement or contacts you have.
We are working hard to develop stronger links with the fair trade networks and steering groups all across the UK and the local involvement of Ambassadors will be vital in helping us to achieve this. Steering groups that we currently have involvement with have helped us raise the profile of Shared Interest through their network, represented us at fair trade events and some have even opened Share Accounts. We would like to strongly encourage all regional and local fair trade networks to take similar actions but this will be easier where we have an existing link through an Ambassador.
As you know we also rely heavily on our Ambassadors to keep us up to date with fair trade events in their region. We would love to hear about any events happening in your region that Shared Interest could possibly be represented at. These may be fair trade specific events, or more general community events, fairs and shows. Or there may be a local Fairtrade cafe or shop in your area that would be happy to display our leaflets and posters. If you have any suggestions regarding your local region please send us an email.
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Click here to learn how you can invest in fair trade. Click here to donate to the Shared Interest Foundation |
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We now have a Shared Interest Facebook group, a place where Facebook members can discuss all things Shared Interest and fair trade, link with likeminded people and keep up to date with fair trade events happening throughout the county. If you’re on facebook join the group by clicking on this link
If you are on Twitter we also have the following Twitter accounts:
SharedInterest http://twitter.com/SharedInterest
SarahMDC http://twitter.com/SarahMDC
sallyreith http://twitter.com/sallyreith
fair_ruth http://twitter.com/fair_ruth
As we are trying to establish a dynamic online presence for Shared Interest we have some new virtual volunteering opportunities for Ambassadors, which you can do from the comfort of your own home. If you would be interested in virtual volunteering please contact Sarah for more information. We will be able to arrange online training sessions for anyone that decides to take up the opportunities.
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Click here to learn how you can invest in fair trade. Click here to donate to the Shared Interest Foundation |
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It is great to see Shared Interest investors getting onto their soapboxes to wax lyrical about the power of social return. Scanning today’s letters page in the Guardian, we spotted Jake Bachus’ response to an article highlighting the benefits of trade versus aid. We are always hot on the heels to join this topic of debate since Shared Interest’s key aim is to help enable people to trade their way to a better future. Big thanks to Jake for speaking out on our behalf and continuing to prove that, not only is the pen is mightier than the sword, but a hand up is better than a hand out.
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Click here to learn how you can invest in fair trade. Click here to donate to the Shared Interest Foundation |
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At Shared Interest we are definitely of the ‘share and share alike’ mentality (guess we’d have problems with our name otherwise!) which is a fundamental part of fair trade. Sharing skills and resources is vital to the businesses we lend to in the developing world but perhaps it is almost as important here; plus it is always a bonus to work with people and likeminded businesses that just get what you’re about and whose ideas float your boat.
That’s why we’re green with ethics and excitement – instead of envy – in working in partnership with www.daisygreenmagazine.co.uk on a string of North East events up until the end of the year. And when one of them includes the ULTIMATE summer clothes swap at Newcastle’s As You Like It on Thursday 25th June, I reckon it’ll be a case of wardrobes at the ready, elbows in the air and eyes peeled if you really want to get this one in the bag.
More dates and info to follow….
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Click here to learn how you can invest in fair trade. Click here to donate to the Shared Interest Foundation |
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A new Export Credit Facility and Term Loan has been approved for handicraft group Bega Kwa Bega, based in Korogocho, one of Nairobi’s largest slums. Bega Kwa Bega is a Kiswahili expression meaning shoulder to shoulder. The goup was founded in 1991 with the help from the Catholic Church in Korogocho to help rehabilitate girls and women rescued from the streets. Bega Kwa Bega works with 4 groups which are split into product types – baskets, jewellery, dolls, and tye-dye fabric. Each group has 2 leaders who are democraticaly elected every year and who represent their groups along with an overall project coordinator.
Currently Bega Kwa Bega have limited resources for their production meaning they are unable to welcome any new girls or women who have been rescued from the streets into the group. However, provision of the Term Loan from Shared Interest will help Bega Kwa Bega to purchase further sewing machines and other equipment required for production therefore enabling the groups to welcome new girls and women into the group and increase production.
More information about Bega Kwa Bega at www.begakwabega.com
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Click here to learn how you can invest in fair trade. Click here to donate to the Shared Interest Foundation |
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Thinking of how to engage all you blog fans I found myself gazing at my home grown tomato plants. I’ve grown them from seed and I have been so thrilled that they’ve grown so well and are beginning to show signs of flowering and producing tomatoes!! There have been some casualties along the way but those that are there seem all the stronger.
Looking at my first dabble in the world of ‘growing your own’ I was reminded of a conversation I had the other night with a local food co-operative about the merits and differences of local food and fairtrade food. This seems to be a recurring conversation and I am interested to hear what others think about the debate?
I personally go with the view that many products which are fairtrade aren’t locally available in the UK (I’m certainly not sure the weather is getting warm enough for us to meet our national demand for bananas) therefore I support fairtrade immediately on that count. Where I meet a ‘dilemma’ of whether or not to buy local or fairtrade, for example with apples, I go with seasonality. If they are in season locally I buy them, if not I seek fairtrade varieties.
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Click here to learn how you can invest in fair trade. Click here to donate to the Shared Interest Foundation |
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