JUBILEE BANK HOLIDAY
Fair Do’s will be closed on Monday 4th June and Tuesday 5th June for the Jubilee Bank Holidays.
Wishing all our customers a happy long weekend!
OLIVE TASTINGS A SUCCESS
Fairtrade Fortnight 2012 was a great success, and we’d like to thank everybody who helped to make our events possible.
The olive tastings at Chapter Arts Centre were a particular favourite – a large crowd attended and there were queues to try the delicious produce of Palestine – olives, olive oil and zatar herbs.
Here are our special guests, Riziq and Taysir proudly displaying their produce.
Look out for some more photos from Fairtrade Fortnight coming soon!
LOCAL COMPANY TAKING A STEP FOR FAIRTRADE
Fair Do’s are delighted to be joining forces with a local company who took a step to promote fair trade during Fairtrade Fortnight 2012.
Industrial Training Services, which specialises in Fork Truck and other forms of industrial training, has pledged to supply visitors, staff and trainees to its premises with Fairtrade products.
They have purchased large quantities of tea and coffee which is free to consume at their Training Centre on Tremorfa Industrial Estate.
About ITS
ITS have been active since 1992 and offer training at their Centre or on site at clients’ own venues. They offer courses for Fork Lift Truck operators and instructors, and other services such as manual handling, welding, lifting and crane operation.
The company also works closely with the Welsh Government and its ReAct scheme which provides funding for redundant workers looking to add new skills to their CV.
Derek Hill, Managing Director of Industrial Training Services, had this to say of the move: “We are very proud to be associated with Fairtrade and also to help another local organisation in Fair Do’s. It is a very important movement and if the opportunity is available then I encourage other businesses to follow in the same footsteps. We already provide free refreshments to staff and trainees and to be able to do so and spread the good word of Fairtrade makes it more worthwhile.”
Our very own Jan Tucker went to visit the ITS site to mark their switch to Fairtrade. Here she is in a rather different work environment to the one she is used to!
EASTER OPENING HOURS 2012
Fair Do’s will be closed on Good Friday, 6th April.
We will be open for our normal hours during the rest of the holiday period (Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm)
CANTON FAIRTRADE WALK
Jenn Nelson led the walk around Canton last week to raise awareness for outlets selling fairtrade. She has sent us this beautiful picture of the group enjoying the glorious sunshine and flowers at Thompsons Park.
Jenn had this to say of the event,
“On February 29th, Walking for Health sponsored a Fair trade walk from Chapter Arts Centre in Canton. We were all very thankful for the brilliant weather and all of the Spring flowers already blooming in Thompsons Park and Victoria Park for us to enjoy! There were 45 people on the walk and we all enjoyed the mix of parks and urban streets with the sun shining.”
You can join us for the next walk, which takes place in Roath this Saturday 10th March at 10.30am. You can download a map for the walk here.
TAKE A STEP FOR FAIRTRADE
Today, Monday 27th February, marks the start of Fairtrade Fortnight 2012.
The theme this year is ‘Take a Step for Fairtrade’ and one way you can do that is to join in with some fairtrade-themed walks taking place around Cardiff. Organised by Fair Trade Cardiff, there will be two walks taking place this week:
At 2pm on Wednesday 29th Feb, a walk around Canton beginning and ending at Chapter Arts Centre.
At 10.30am on Saturday 10th March, a walk around Roath from Albany Road Primary School to Roath Farmers’ Market.
These walks will each last approximately an hour and their aim is to guide you to places where you can buy fairtrade products in the City. Even if you already know where to track down your fairtrade goods, we’d love to see you there to help us raise awareness.
A map for the Canton walk is available here. You can find out more about these walks by visiting the Fair Trade Cardiff page.
NEW!! A map for the Roath walk can be downloaded here.
SHOPPING EVENINGS AT FAIR DO’S
Fairtrade Fortnight 2012 is almost upon us – this year it will be held from 27th Feb-11th March. During this time, Fair Do’s would like to welcome small groups for late night shopping evenings. If you have not been to one of these before, it simply means we keep the shop open late especially for your group to browse and buy together as a social occasion.
If you are part of a small group who could benefit from this, please get in touch and book a visit as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you!
And don’t forget to take advantage of our sale or return service during Fairtrade Fortnight – the perfect time to set up a fairtrade stall!
VALENTINE TREATS
Thinking of treating your loved one to a special gift on Valentine’s Day (Tuesday 14th February)?
We have some beautiful love-inspired gifts from Namaste in Fair Do’s at the moment, including this unique set of ‘dips and nibbles’ bowls.
We also have heart-shaped picture frames and plenty of stunning handmade cards to choose from.
Don’t leave it until the last minute; visit us soon!
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT 2012 – OLIVE TASTINGS
Following a successful visit during Fairtrade Fortnight 2011, we will once again be welcoming two Palestinian olive producers to the UK this year.
We are delighted to welcome back Deir Istya farmer, Riziq Abu Nasser, who was with us last year. Riziq (pictured below at Fair Do’s in 2011) is a father of three and currently owns 90 olive trees. Deir Istya’s olive co-operative was one of the first to gain Fairtrade and organic certification for its olive oil production.
Riziq will be joined by Taysir Arbasi, Zaytoun’s Director in Palestine. Taysir (pictured below) lives in the Salfeet district which is an area highly dependent on olive cultivation.
As part of their tour, hosted by Zaytoun, Riziq and Taysir will be at Chapter Arts Centre in Canton to host an evening of tastings. As well as delicious olives, olive oil and zatar herbs to sample, our guests will be able to answer any burning questions you may have.
Join us during Fairtrade Fortnight 2012
Wednesday 7th March, 6.30-8.30pm
Chapter Arts Centre, Canton
Fair Do’s would like to extend thanks to all at Chapter Arts for co-hosting this event.
SALE STARTS NEXT WEEK!
Our January sale starts on Tuesday 10th January and will include clothing, crafts and Christmas stock. Come in and stock up early for Christmas 2012 (just don’t forget where you stash the cards away by December!) or simply enjoy some bargains on some of our other lovely products.
Hazppy new year!
CHRISTMAS 2011
We close for Christmas on Saturday 24th December at 2pm and reopen on Tuesday 3rd January at 10am.
From all at Fair Do’s, a very happy Christmas and blessed new year to all our customers. See you in 2012!
DIVINE TASTINGS A SUCCESS!
We were visited a couple of days ago by Wendy Rowan from Divine Chocolate, who brought along free samples for customers to taste. It was a very successful morning and we’d like to thank all who attended. It was lovely to see Wendy again, as well as old friends and new customers coming in to meet her.
The delicious chocolate on offer was the Dark chocolate with Orange and Ginger, Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts and After-Dinner Mints. They were all very popular!
As this event was an opportunity to celebrate African products and raise awareness of the climate change talks soon to take place in South Africa, we also had Haf from Friends of the Earth Cymru on hand to discuss these issues. Many thanks Haf for attending, and to all who came along.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING EVENING
Want to get some Christmas shopping done at Fair Do’s but never seem to find the time? If your answer is yes then we have just the event for you!
For the first time, Fair Do’s will hold a one-off late night Christmas shopping evening open to the public.
On Tuesday 6th December, we will stay open until 8pm so you can visit us after work or a busy day and choose from our huge range of fair trade gifts, chocolates and lovely Christmas delights. We’ll even be providing some fairtrade refreshments and some Christmassy music!
Please help us to make this event really worthwile by spreading the word. You can download a poster for the event by clicking here. If you’re on Twitter, please take a moment to tell your followers about it too.
Thank you, and see you there!
DIVINITY FOR FREE!
An exciting date for your diary in November -
On the 22nd, we will be joined in the shop by Wendy Rowan, account manager for Divine Chocolate. From 11.30am-2pm, she will be with us to meet and greet, answer your questions and of course, hand out free samples of the Divine chocolate we stock at Fair Do’s.
Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity; we hope to see you there!
Don’t forget to keep checking our twitter page for up to date news on events just like this one. You can find us at www.twitter.com/fairdoscardiff.
NEW VOLUNTEER
From September 2011, we welcome to our team a new volunteer. Katarina Frankel comes from Sweden where she has previously volunteered in her local world shop. Katarina will be dividing her time between Fair Do’s and Fair Trade Wales and we are very excited to have her with us.
HAPPY HAMPERS
A little reminder for you about our hamper service – a very special gift. With Christmas approaching (well, nearly!) why not consider surprising somebody in your life with a gorgeous hamper of goodies? And, of course, everything from the hamper itself to the all the treats packed inside are fairly traded.
Here are just a few examples of what we can make up for your hamper.
Food from Around the World Hamper – from £20
This hamper includes sundried tomatoes from Palestine, marmalade from Swaziland, and wild blossom honey from Chile – a true international selection for food lovers.
Chocolate Hampers - from £15
Strictly for the true chocolate lover these hampers include chocolate cookies, drinking chocolate, chocolate coated raisins and peanuts, and of course delicious Divine chocolate bars!
Coffee Hamper - from £20
For the coffee enthusiast this hamper includes a jar of speciality Papua New Guinea Instant Coffee, a pack of Dark Roast & Ground Coffee, a bar of Coffee Milk Chocolate, a bag of Chocolate covered Coffee Beans & a gorgeous handmade ceramic Mug.
However, you need not be restricted by these samples. Why not drop into Fair Do’s or give us a call to pick your own products and make up a unique hamper? Maybe you’d like to include cosmetics, candles or even jewellery. You could even make up a Christmas-themed hamper using our wide range of fairly-traded and delicious Christmas foods.
All our hampers are beautifully presented in baskets and wrapped in cellophane and ribbon – they make very attractive and thoughtful gifts.
Please give us 48 hours notice in order to make up your hamper. The contents may vary slightly depending on stock availability.
EXCITING NEWS FOR OUR SCHOOLS WORK
Fair Do’s received some exciting news over the summer. We have been awarded a grant from the Welsh Government’s Wales for Africa programme, which will go towards advancing our work with schools.
For those that do not already know, we offer several services for schools including tours around our shop and workspace, and loan of resources like books and DVDs. We also offer a sale or return service, whereby school groups can borrow our products to sell at their events.
This grant from the Welsh Government will allow us to further this work. We will be able to increase our resources, make the shop more pupil-friendly, and spread the word to more schools. We are so grateful for this opportunity to continue this valuable work and look forward to meeting more enthusiastic young minds soon!
If you would like to know more about our services for schools, please call us at the shop 02920 222066 or email info@fairdos.com.
FAIR TRADE IN ACTION
Thursday 7th July
7.30pm
Canton Uniting Church
If you are interested in hearing about first-hand experience of the kind of producers who supply our products, this is the event for you! Danielle Johnson and Kate Meakin, both formerly of Fair Trade Wales, will speak at this meeting about their recent trips to Uganda and India respectively. They both worked closely with farmers and producers and will have many insights into the meaning of fairtrade for the people at the other end of the spectrum from us here in the UK.
This meeting is open to all, and there will be time for questions. If you would like to help publicise this event, you can download a poster by clicking below.
Download the poster for this event.
Below are some photos taken by Danielle on her trip.
NEW ITEMS FROM DENUR CRAFTS
This week we were visited in the shop by Leah Mitula of Denur Crafts. Leah is a longstanding supplier, and friend, of Fair Do’s and her beautiful soapstone items have always been popular.
Here she is pictured with her daughter, Laura.
Leah brought us a new consignment of colourful soapstone dishes and necklaces which are for sale now.
NEW ITEMS IN STOCK
We have plenty of new items to tempt you with at Fair Do’s this Easter season.
How about some beautiful leather items from Cadwyn?
These gorgeous bags and shoes for women and babies have already caught many eyes from their display in the shop. The leather is very soft to the touch and the bright colours make them a unique gift (or a treat to yourself!)
Here are the shoes modelled by baby Jude, who was doing his best to remove them (though we can assure you that is no reflection on how lovely these shoes are!!)
We also have new stock in from Fair Trade Egypt, including these beautiful and unusual carvings:
These lovely items are made from the horn of a buffalo – a highly respected animal in Egypt of which every part is made use when it dies.
We also have many seasonal items if Easter gifts are what you are looking for. We have beautiful hand-painted crosses and papier maché eggs, chicks and bunnies:
(Of course, we have the chocolate version of the eggs too! But hurry while our stocks of yummy fair trade eggs last!)
And finally, how about spoiling a special somebody in your life with one of our beautiful new bracelets?
These are just a small sample of the lovely pieces of jewellery we have for you to admire on your next visit to Fair Do’s. See you soon!
STOCK UP ON COFFEE FOR YOUR COLLEAGUES
You may not be aware that Fair Do’s sell catering size packs of coffee, tea, and sachets of sugar. We can also order large quantities of fair trade cookies, bottles of water, and various other snacks or beverages.
If your workplace or organisation would like to place an order with us, you can download our price list here (correct in April 2011.)
EASTER 2011 OPENING HOURS
Fair Do’s will be closed on Good Friday 22nd April, and on Friday 29th April, Royal Wedding bank holiday.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our customers a happy and restful Easter season.
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT REPORT 2011
What a wonderful two weeks was had by Fair Do’s! The shop was inundated with reps, customers and schools visits, the Morgan Arcade ‘Funzone’ run by Fair Trade Wales was a hive of activity, and our visits from producers were real successes.
Palestinian Olive Farmers
Bassema and Riziq, our visiting olive farmers from Palestine had a successful tour which included joining writer and comedian Mark Thomas at the Glee Club, where Fair Do’s also held a stall. Here is Riziq enjoying a joke with Mark after the event.
Riziq and Bassema also met with the public in the Morgan Arcade and held tastings of some of their produce. Here is Bassema with Dianne (a long-standing Fair Do’s volunteer) and with Claire Owen (Secretary of Fair Trade Cardiff) and our very own Jan Tucker (Chair of Fair Trade Cardiff)
Bassema and Riziq also surprised us with an unplanned visit to the shop; it was a real honour to have them with us.
Schools visits
Our schools visitors were so enthusiastic about fair trade – they held fair trade tuck shops, coffee mornings and fashion shows to raise awareness for fellow pupils about just what a range of fair trade goods are available. St Joseph’s RC Primary, Cardiff were lucky enough to be in the shop when we had a surprise visit from our Palestinian olive farmers. It is always a joy to welcome pupils into Fair Do’s as they bring a fresh perspective to fair trade and often re-ignite our passion for it. It is so exciting to see a new generation growing up with an education about making trade fair.
Ghanaian Cocoa Farmers
We were also visited at the shop by Divine Chocolate’s guests, Harriet and Fatima, who are both cocoa farmers. Their tour, which coincided with International Women’s Day, was also a great success. The guests at the tea party co-hosted by Fair Do’s were treated to a real insight into these inspiring women’s lives. Here they are at Fair Do’s.
…and Everything Else!
Fair Do’s were involved in countless other ventures for Fairtrade Fortnight 2011, making it our busiest but most enjoyable yet! We provided clothes for 4 fashion shows, including 2 schools and Glamorgan University. We also lent the clothes for another rather unusual way of showing off the fair trade label – click here to see what caught the attention of many passers-by on the street, and many Tweeters too!
We couldn’t have done any of this without our wonderful staff team and network of around 20 volunteers who enabled us to be involved in so many things this year. Thank you so much! A big thank you also to Fair Trade Wales for all their hard work in the Morgan Arcade Funzone, and Fair Trade Cardiff who worked closely with them and organised many of the events. Here’s to a bigger and better Fairtrade Fortnight 2012!
WORLD RHYTHMS AT REDUCED PRICES
Many of you will have heard samples of world music playing in the shop if you have visited Fair Do’s. If you have been tempted before by our World Music CDs, now is the time to grab yourself a bargain – many of these CDs are now reduced to just £6.50. Fair Do’s are the main retailer of the Rough Guides CDs in Cardiff so you won’t find a range like ours anywhere nearby.
Come and get your feet tapping and hips moving!
HAPPY FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT!
We are just three days into Fairtrade Fortnight and the excitement is mounting; we are being kept very busy. Next week sees the beginning of the Divine events in Cardiff. Women cocoa farmers will be visiting the city and speaking at various venues.
For full details, you can download the poster by clicking here. You can print this poster to help advertise the events too. We’d love to see you at some of these events as we celebrate International Women’s Day, fair trade and of course, chocolate!
GET INVOLVED
If you would like to help us promote the visit from Zaytoun producers during Fairtrade Fortnight, you can download a poster for the events by clicking here.
You could display this poster in your church, school, office or community centre. Or consider emailing it to your friends and colleagues who might be interested in attending this worthwhile event. Thank you!
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO A DIVINE TEA PARTY…
During Fairtrade Fortnight, two women cocoa farmers from Ghana will be visiting Cardiff.
Harriet Boatemaa and Fatima Ali, prominent members of Kuapa Kokoo - the Ghanaian farmers co-operative co-owned by Divine chocolate - have a packed schedule of events during their visit. They will be sharing their personal stories on life in a farming community, as well as sharing how their co-operative came to own a 45% share of Divine chocolate – one of the leading fairtrade brands.
On Wednesday 9th March, Fair Do’s together with Canton Uniting Church have organised a Divine tea party. From 3.30pm-5.30pm, guests are invited to meet the visiting cocoa farmers and enjoy refreshments. We would love to see you there.
Keep an eye on our website for full details of the events planned in Cardiff during this visit.
JOIN US DURING FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT
During Fairtrade Fortnight (28th Feb-13th March) Fair Trade Wales will have the use of a shop unit in the Morgan Arcade in Cardiff city centre. There will be absolutely loads going on – from storytelling to Welsh cakes to wine tastings so be sure to pop by and visit.
Fair Do’s will be involved in many of their events, as well as holding stalls there on the 5th March and 12th March selling many of our fabulous range of fair trade products. We would love to see you there!
Olive Farmers visit; Monday 7th March, Morgan Arcade, 2pm
Following a successful and very enlightening visit from olive producers in FT fortnight last year (see this report from 2010) we will be welcoming to Wales two Palestinian olive farmers. Riziq Abu Nasser from the Salfit district, and Bassema Basalat from Haja village, will speak in the Morgan Arcade on Monday 7th March, when there will also be olive tastings.
Bassema is a founder of the womens’ development association in Haja village – this was established few years ago to enable the women to generate income and organise social activities. The society is based on za’atar and olive oil economic activities. She has a history of nonviolent struggle against the settlements around the village. Both she and Riziq, who also toured Devon in 2009, intend to be present at the Mark Thomas Glee Club event the same evening.
Mark Thomas at the Glee Club, Cardiff; Monday 7th March
Mark’s tour ‘Extreme Rambling’, which links in with his book of the same name about walking Isarel’s separation barrier, calls at the Glee club, Cardiff on Monday 7th March and Tuesday 8th March. Get your tickets now from the Glee club website.
Keep checking our website for more updates on Fairtrade Fortnight. Fair Trade Wales have also set up a dedicated site for everyone involved in Fairtrade fortnight in Wales – http://fairtradefortnightcymru.org.uk/ This site goes live in the next few days and will be updated regularly so be sure to keep checking. See you soon!
TWEET TWEET
Fair Do’s has joined the world of Twitter!
If you have an account, look us up – @fairdoscardiff
Or click here to go to our profile page.
We’re hoping that this way, we can keep you updated regularly about what’s going on in the shop and beyond. See you there!
PUT THE FAIR TRADE MARK TO WORK
Do you work for a company that regularly has t-shirts printed for conferences? Or maybe your church or Christian Union produces t-shirts for events or promotions.
If so, you could benefit from Fair Do’s partnership with Epona Clothing, the completely fair trade and sweat-shop free clothing company.
Epona provide blank t-shirts, hoodies and polo tops ready for printing with your own design. Not only will your clothing be good quality and vibrantly coloured cotton, it will also be fair trade certified. Pictured below is an example of their wide range of imprintable apparel.
If you would like to find out what Epona and Fair Do’s can offer your school, church, or workplace, get in touch now.
CLOTHING FOR YOUR LITTLE GREEN RADICALS
Fair Do’s have long carried a fabulous range of fair trade baby clothes which are perfect as gifts for new parents. Our lovely Bishopston dresses, colourful knitted cardigans and vibrant Ideo vests have been extremely popular over the last few years.
Now, we are very excited to add to this range with some products from Little Green Radicals. These gorgeous playsuits and dresses are made from organic cotton and carry cute slogans that let the baby do the talking about ethical issues!
Fair Do’s are currently Cardiff’s only stockist of Little Green Radicals.
NEW PRODUCTS FROM FAIR TRADE EGYPT
Fair Do’s have some exciting new stock to kick off 2011.
We currently have a whole range of new products from Fair Trade Egypt (See this news item from last year to learn more about Fair Trade Egypt)
Included in the range are these stunning scarves. Scarves have always been a popular product at Fair Do’s and these are some of the most vibrant and beautiful we have had the pleasure of selling. If these catch your eye, you’ll have to move quickly to ensure that there will be one left!
Also new from Fair Trade Egypt are some beautiful bangles, ravishing rugs and unique ornaments.
Fair Do’s are still the only retailer in the UK to carry a range of stock from this wonderful organisation, so you can be assured of a unique purchase!
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT 2011 IS APPROACHING
This year, Fairtrade Fortnight will run from 28th February until 13th March. The theme will be Show Off Your Label, so be prepared to be as loud and proud about fairtrade as you can!
There are loads of ideas for how you can show off the fairtrade mark on the Fairtrade Foundation website, but here is just one of them:
By clicking here, you can order a free bunting kit to decorate yourself. Your 22 cotton triangles can shout about what fairtrade means to you in any way you like, and you can use them to help promote your fair trade fortnight event. When the fortnight is over, you can send your bunting back to the Fairtrade Foundation to be a part of their world record attempt for the longest continuous bunting! What a creative way to be a part of the fairtrade movement!
There are many more wonderful free goodies on the Fairtrade Foundation website to help you get the most out of the fortnight - whether you are part of a business, or an individual supporter.
Look out for more news on our website about how we will be getting involved in fairtrade fortnight. In the mean time, why not pop into Fairdo’s and start getting inspired for how you can show off the label? Perhaps you need ingredients to bake fairtrade cakes that shout about their quality taste, or bags and clothing that carry the fairtrade label so you don’t even have to do any of the hard work!
And don’t forget we run a sale or return service all year round for volunteers to run their own fairtrade stalls. With one particular focus being cotton during fairtrade fortnight, you could even think about taking some of our clothing and linens to sell on your stall. We look forward to seeing you soon.
NEW YEAR SALE
Do you tell yourself every January that you will spread the cost of Christmas this year? Well, you can start the ball rolling by popping into Fair Do’s this week and picking up your fair trade Christmas cards at a fraction of the 2010 price.
Also included in our sale, starting Tuesday 11th January, and continuing until the end of the month, is a limited amount of stock from our craft lines, some of our beautiful stationery, and of course delicious Christmas food and chocolates (because who says you can only eat mince pies in December?)
Hurry, they won’t last long!
HELLO, 2011!
Fair Do’s would like to wish a very Happy New Year to all our customers and readers.
We look forward to seeing you all in 2011.
YOUNG FAIR TRADERS GRIN AND ‘BEAR’ IT!
On Thursday 25th November 2010, we received a visit from some young fair traders at Millbank Primary School.
The group were given a tour of the Fair Do’s shop, office and stock room and had their questions answered by Jan, the owner and manager of Fair Do’s. They even sampled some fair trade hot chocolate and cookies.
Click here to see their report and photos from the day on the Millbank Primary website, and look out for their little friend Millie Banks, who seems to be enjoying the range of products on offer!
If you would like to arrange a visit for a small group from your school, please call Jan at the shop on 02920 222066
FAIR DO’S AT THE WELSH ASSEMBLY
Fair Do’s recently held a stall at Ty Hywel in the Welsh Assembly. This is an annual event and one that always proves very enjoyable and worthwhile.
The Welsh Assembly are great supporters of fair trade and several AMs visited the stall on the day.
Pictured here is Chris Franks, Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales Central, with one of our volunteers Dianne Bartholomew.
Also admiring the range of products is Jenny Randerson, AM for Cardiff Central, pictured here with another of our volunteers, Josh Lewis.
Jenny is a long-standing supporter of fair trade and the annual fair trade stall is arranged by her office. We would like to extend our thanks, and our congratulations to Jenny on her peerage.
LOVE ZIMBABWE SALE
Fair Do’s currently have a sale on all Love Zimbabwe items.
Come down to the shop and see these eye-catching pieces of hand-painted pottery – perfect for Christmas presents.
NEW IN STORE: PERUVIAN CERAMICS
Fair Do’s are currently stocking an exciting new line of products – some beautiful Peruvian ceramics.
These gorgeous vases, bowls and platters come from Peru and are handmade using Andean clay. Fair Do’s purchased the remaining stock of these ceramics from a small fair trade business in the UK that has now closed down. Priced very reasonably, one of these pieces could make the perfect affordable addition to your home. You can also be assured that you are getting the best deal from Fair Do’s – these works of art have been spotted elsewhere at almost three times our selling price.
Click here for a price list and more information on these eye-catching products.
WELSH BLEND COFFEE
We are now stocking a Welsh Blend coffee. Made by Cafe Fair Trade, the blend is 100% pure Arabica Colombian coffee and according to its creators, is ‘beautifully smooth for the Welsh palate’!
Look out for these packs in the shop!
A VERY WELSH CHRISTMAS
Here at Fair Do’s we are busy getting ready for the run up to Christmas. If you are starting to think about that long Christmas card list, why not pop in to the shop and choose some Welsh or bilingual cards to send your greetings?
We now have 17 beautiful designs in stock – something to suit everyone’s taste, and of course, all fair trade.
By clicking here you can view each design with its relevant price. You can also print these posters and display or distribute them. Orders for cards can be placed in the shop or by calling us on 02920 222066.
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Yma yn Siopa Teg mae pawb yn paratoi ar gyfer prysurdeb y Nadolig. Os ydych yn dechrau meddwl am y rhestr cardiau Nadolig hir ‘na, pam na alwch heibio i’r siop i ddewis cardiau Cymraeg neu ddwyieithog ar gyfer eich cyfarchion? Bellach mae gennym 17 cynllun hardd mewn stoc – rhywbeth at ddant bawb, ac wrth gwrs maen nhw i gyd yn rhai masnach deg.
Drwy glicio yma, gallwch weld pob cynllun a’u pris. Gallwch argraffu’r posteri hyn hefyd a’i harddangos neu eu dosbarthu. Gallwch archebu cardiau drwy alw yn y siop neu drwy ein ffonio ar 02920 222066.
A FAIRLY PERFECT BLEND
Last week, we welcomed a special visitor to Fair Do’s.
John Nuwagaba is the general manager of the Ankole Coffee Producers Co-operative Union (ACPCU) in Uganda. The ACPCU comprisesof 4,465 smallholder coffee growers. The group was established in 1998 and registered as a co-operative in 2006 – then only the second new co-operative registered in Uganda for thirty years.
ACPCU have been partners with Cafe Direct since 2001 and their robusta coffee goes into the blend for the popular Classics range, which is stocked at Fair Do’s.
Pictured below are Jan and Ruth with John, who is sampling the product for himself!
Fair Do’s would like to thank John for his inspiring and encouraging visit.
EISTEDDFOD 2010
Dewch i ymweld a ni yn yr eisteddfod genedlaethol! Byddwn yn rhannu
unedau gyda Cymru Masnach Deg, rhif 201 a 202, dim ymhell o’r Pafiliwn.
Come and visit us at the national eisteddfod! We will be sharing units
with Fair Trade Wales, numbers 201 and 202, not far from the Pafiliwn.
FASHION SHOW 2010 REPORT
Calvary Baptist Church in Canton, Cardiff, played host to 120 eager fair trade at the Fair Do’s annual fashion on Saturday 22 May 2010 at 7.30pm. This was the tenth show put on by Fair Do’s, Cardiff’s first fair trade shop, and the second time Calvary Baptist has been the venue.
Models strutted their stuff wearing the latest fair trade fashion sourced from around the world – with clothing, accessories and jewelry from three continents.
There was also a special guest at the show: Leah Mitula of Denur Crafts. She spoke about the handmade jewelry produced by her company in Kenya, which offers employment opportunities to women, especially single parents. She told the audience how her craft brings freedom to many women, and enables their children to go to school, thereby breaking the cycle of poverty that many families are trapped in.
WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY
This year, World Fair Trade Day takes place on Saturday 8th May.
World Fair Trade Day is organised by the World Fair Trade Organisation and unites thousands of citizens, fair trade organisations, social and environmental movements, producers and consumers all around the planet in a common effort to support fair trade and trade justice for small producers.
If you are holding an event to promote Fair Trade, you can register at www.worldfairtradeday10.org. The site lists all registered events happening around the UK so why not browse through and see how you can keep on supporting fair trade this year.
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT REPORT
We’ve had another successful Fairtrade Fortnight with many local schools and churches doing a roaring trade on dedicated stalls. The main push of the event being to encourage people to swap their cuppa for a fair trade cuppa, many of these stalls took the form of a coffee morning or tea party. Tea and biscuits were flying from our shelves and we could barely keep up!
Of course, many people already buy fairtrade tea or coffee in their weekly shop so we also encouraged them to swap another item. At the tea dance held by the Fairtrade Foundation in St David’s shopping centre, we had several interesting conversations with people who were surprised at the range of fairtrade products avilable – not just bananas, chocolate and coffee!
The highlight of the fortnight for Fair Do’s was the visit from the olive producers working for Zaytoun. Thomas Cazalis and Haitham Hasasneh spoke to a small but captivated audience in our shop on 2nd March about the challenges of producing olive oil and other products from Palestine. After this, they headed to Chapter Arts Centre for an olive tasting. Haitham had earlier commented that they were passionate about the quality of their products – somebody could buy olive oil once out of solidarity but if they didn’t like the taste they wouldn’t buy a second time. The tasting certainly proved that their efforts have paid off and the olive oil is delicious!
Thank you to everyone who has supported us during Fairtrade Fortnight and to those who have pledged to swap an item – you are making a real difference!
OUR FIRST DIRECT IMPORT
Fair Trade Egypt is a non-profit organisation that aims to empower and assist artisans all over Egypt. They sell unique handmade crafts and jewellery that cover many regions of the country. At Fair Do’s we have recently added goods from Fair Trade Egypt to our stock. This is the first time Fair Do’s has directly imported stock, bringing us ever closer to the producers themselves. This came about through a personal contact who visited Egypt and came back to us with the idea that we could buy from FTE as they did not currently have a UK representative – we are very honoured to be the first ones.
Come into the shop to see the beautiful new woven scarves and brass jewellery that have already been very popular with customers. We also have some slightly more unique pieces such as carvings made from buffalo horn.
DENUR CRAFTS
We are always looking for inspiring new additions to our range at Fair Do’s and we believe Denur Crafts are a very worthy organisation to support. Denur Crafts, Kenya operates as an informal group of women who create beautiful jewellery that is sold throughout Europe, Australia, Africa and Canada.
As Kenya does not have a public school system, parents must pay for their children to attend school. The vision of Denur Crafts is to give an income to mothers so their children can receive an education. All the women who are employed to make jewellery have school-aged children. Each member creates their own design and produces the jewellery using traditional methods from raw materials located in Kenya. Denur Crafts started in 1994 with just four women and has grown to a membership of thirty-eight.
Leah Mitula of Denur Crafts recently visited us at Fair Do’s with her son Dean who is studying at the University of Glamorgan.
Come into Fair Do’s and see our lovely range of handmade jewellery, perfect as gifts for all occasions.
NEW LINE OF BABY CLOTHING
This season we have an exciting new line at Fair Do’s. We have stocked babygros and clothing for some time, but this is our first range from a french fair trade company called Ideo.
Ideo are committed to fair trade, choosing small producers in developing areas and paying them a fair wage. They also use only ecological materials with a known origin to make their clothing.
These babygros are made with 100% organic cotton so not only are they ethically made and stylish, they’re kind to your baby’s skin too.
Pop into the shop to browse through this lovely new collection that is very reasonably priced. You can find out more about the principles of Ideo at their website – www.ideocollection.com
FAIR DO’S SAY ‘PANTS TO POVERTY’
Following a successful run in 2008, Fair Do’s are once again stocking a range from Pants to Poverty, the completely ethical and fairly-traded pants company.
This unique organisation buy their materials from a farmer-owned company in the cotton heartlands of India. The pants are then produced at an ethical factory in India which provides a fair wage for its workers, many of whom are women. Not only this but Pants to Poverty also fund special projects with income generated from the sales of these pants, such as the world’s first child-labour free cotton seed production project. Their claim that they are totally ethical ‘from grain to groin’ really does stand up!
This might already sound like a great product to you, but Fair Do’s goes even further. We have a specially commissioned range in the shop which includes a Welsh Dragon print and bilingual slogan! So come down to visit us at the shop and buy a unique gift for the man in your life.
To find out more about Pants to Poverty, visit their website by clicking here.
WELSH LANGUAGE CARDS – ALL THE WAY FROM AFRICA!
Fair Do’s are now offering a selection of Welsh language handmade cards from Rwanda. We have 3 designs – two proclaiming Happy Birthday (Pen-blwydd Hapus) and one Congratulations (Llongyfarchiadau).
The cards are made by an organisation called Cards from Africa, who provide employment for many 18-25 year olds living in Rwanda who were made orphans as a result of disease or the 1994 genocide. They make these beautiful cards by repulping waste paper from offices. Often these young people are responsible for their younger brothers and sisters, so making these cards provides a significantly better life for them all.
Not only is this a first for Fair Do’s – we have never before stocked Welsh language cards handmade in the South – but a first for Rwanda too. They told us it was an honour to be creating their first Welsh cards for us!
Cardiau Cymraeg – yr holl ffordd o Affrica
Mae Siopa Teg/Fair Do’s bellach yn cynnig detholiad o gardiau Cymraeg wedi ei gwneud â llaw o Rwanda. Mae gennym 3 cynllun (gweler isod) – dau yn dweud Pen-blwydd Hapus ac un yn dweud Llongyfarchiadau.
Gwneir y cardiau gan fudiad o’r enw Cards from Africa, sy’n cyflogi nifer o bobl 18 -25 oed sy’n byw yn Rwanda a wnaed yn amddifaid o ganlyniad i glefydau neu’r hil-laddiad yn 1994. Maen nhw’n gwneud y cardiau hyfryd hyn drwy ailgylchu papur gwastraff o swyddfeydd. Yn aml bydd y bobl ifanc hyn yn gofalu am frodyr a chwiorydd ifancach, felly mae’r gwaith o wneud y cardiau hyn yn gallu gwella ansawdd eu bywydau yn sylweddol.
Mae hyn nid yn unig yn ‘gyntaf’ i Siopa Teg/Fair Do’s – dydyn ni ddim wedi cadw cardiau Cymraeg wedi eu gwneud â llaw yn y De – ond i Rwanda hefyd. Maen nhw wedi dweud wrthym ei fod yn anrhydedd iddyn nhw greu eu cardiau cyntaf Cymraeg ar ein cyfer ni!
FAIR DO’S AT THE SENEDD
Elsa Cowie, a volunteer at Fair Do’s, went with Jan Tucker to a fairtrade breakfast at the Senedd to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight 2009. The event had special guests from Colombia, organised by The Co-operative Group – José Manuel Ocampo Lopez, a farmer belonging to a coffee co-operative and Mateo Correa who works for Colcafé. As well as enjoying the opportunity to meet the fair trade coffee growers, Elsa and Jan really enjoyed the fabulous fairtrade breakfast made by the National Assembly’s caterers!
Elsa and Jose Manuel at the Senedd
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN TO FT14 2009
Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 is almost upon us! But, there’s still time for you to get involved.
We have extra stock available at this time of year if you want to do a fair trade stall and lots of free resources – including new bilingual posters!
Fairtrade Fortnight is the perfect time to get involved and promote the message of fair trade…so what are you waiting for?
Or, if you haven’t got the time (or energy) to organise your own event – make sure you check out our events section to find out more about what’s happening locally during Fairtrade Fortnight.
Whatever you do…DO SOMETHING
GLOBAL CREDIT CRUNCH
Currently in the UK the news is swamped with stories of financial doom and gloom. We would like to say a special ‘thank you’ to our customers who have gone out of their way to continue supporting us. The producers represented by the products we sell feel the pressure of any shift in global economics in a very real way. It is all the more important at this time to buy fairly traded goods. When you shop at Fair Do’s you know that your money is supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable people. On their behalf, thank you.