Fair-trade Event in Marlborough

It was an inspiring’Fair trade’  evening on the 5th May at St Peter’s Church, Marlborough with an experienced and diverse panel from different positions within the retail and fair trade business talking to an audience that spanned across the different generations.  Speaking were:
Bill Yates: founder of Fair trade who spoke of the origins of Fair-trade and why it is important
Baii Jabang, Director of the Trust Agency for Rural Development in Gunjur, spoke about the importance of delivering on the potential of the mango business, as a response to the consequences of climate change and because of the devastation of the economy and youth employment, the latter caused by the decades long dictatorship in The Gambia, only relieved last year with the inauguration of President Barrow.  This and the return of The Gambia to The Commonwealth makes this an exciting moment in The Gambia’s history and an opportunity for development.
Ashley Brooks:  Manager at Tesco, Marlborough talked about fair trade within Tesco and is a great supporter of the Fair trade initiative in Marlborough and the Thriving Through Venture programme.
Vivienne Kynaston: Member of the Wiltshire Fair-trade Group spoke about how fair trade can make a difference and what type of standards the producers have to reach to become ‘fair trade’ producers.
Allison Burden:  Chair of the Fair trade group in Marlborough, led the evening with her wonderful humour and energy.
Dr Nick Maurice: Initiator and longstanding friend and supporter of Fair trade initiatives and the partnership with Gunjur and now also, Thriving Through Venture, the new charity supporting young people to work on collaborative projects both within their local communities and the partner community in Gunjur on projects that are purposeful, meaningful and in which they learn new skills.
We had some of our TTV young volunteers posing questions to the panel, in addition to a super attendance of young students from St John’s Academy, Marlborough who also asked questions and were obviously inspired and wanting to take part in further fair trade initiatives here in their local community and school in the UK.
It was an evening with lots of positive energies, inspiring people across the generations, with everyone listening to each other and thinking together about the issues that were presented.