An amazing 20 years of Fairtrade!
Deep in the north-east corner of the New Forest, Hampshire, lies the small church family of St. Boniface in the village of Woodgreen. Woodgreen has a population of approximately 500 people, but that belies the ability and determination of the people to positively affect individual traders and communities all across the world…
Mrs Beverly Judd explains to some of our many visitors how they can get involved in helping to promote the Fairtrade lifestyle, and what a difference it makes to some of the poorest communities in the world.
Some 20 years ago, it was decided to run a monthly Community Fairtrade Coffee morning inside St. Boniface church. Who would’ve thought that all this time later it would still be going as strong as ever?
Celebrations took place on Friday 25th September with invited guests including the original co-founder Rev Nicky Davies (who now preaches in Uplyme), as well as regular attenders. We also had a specially designed cake complete with the Fairtrade logo to further solidify the achievement of this continuous 20 year run.
The photo shows the original founders of our Fairtrade Coffee Mornings, Mrs Beverly Judd (left), Rev Nicky Davies (right), together with the current Rector of Avon Valley Churches, Rev. Luke Wickings (centre).
What’s more, we’ve been running the numbers and have worked out that since the Fairtrade Coffee Mornings have been going, an amazing amount of approximately £60,000 of Fairtrade goods have been sold!
Click on a photo below to open it in a large interactive gallery
From humble seeds grows huge results…
Matthew 13:31-32
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches."
A large information board explaining how Fairtrade works and why it’s so important to so many people across the world could be seen at the coffee morning - as well as fliers and even a petition to sign to promote Fairtrade (which filled up pretty quickly!)
Fairtrade Coffee Mornings occur usually on the last Friday of the month from 10.30am to midday. There are still three to enjoy this year - we’d love to see you there:
