We are committed to being a Fairtrade® church community. We support the ethos of fair trade for all. We use only Fairtrade coffee, tea and sugar in our church and provide a free supply to all church users. We have our own Traidcraft stall in the church hall each Sunday after morning service. This sells Fairtrade items supplied through Traidcraft. Orders can also be placed for anything not held regularly on the stall.
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traidcraft stall
Kirkton Church is proud to have been awarded “Fairtrade” status in 2013. We use only fairly traded tea, coffee and sugar on church premises.
The Traidcraft stall has run in the large hall most Sundays after morning service for more than 20 years. Its purpose is to sell fairly traded goods — cards, gifts and food— most of which have been bought from Traidcraft plc, a company set up as a “Christian response to poverty.”
The presence of the stall in Kirkton Church represents one contribution to the fight for trade justice.
Traidcraft plc has a charitable arm — Traidcraft Exchange — which organizes projects in developing countries to give local farmers, craftsmen and women the chance to sell their goods at fair prices so that they can begin to climb out of the poverty trap and become self-sufficient. Without the help of such organisations, growers would be at the mercy of large multi-national companies who buy at artificially low prices and then make huge profits for their shareholders as they sell on the finished product to customers at the ruling price — dictated by them.
Usually when Traidcraft buys goods, they pay a premium price to the producer — a higher price, so that the extra money can be used to develop services within the area — such as a school or a supply of clean water.
Products are of good quality and by buying fairly traded products you are helping people in developing countries to provide for themselves, rather than giving them charity.
Come and have a look for yourself — with no obligation to buy. Many fairly traded goods are now available on supermarket shelves so it’s becoming easier to make the commitment.
Please be aware that Fairtrade and Traidcraft are not the same thing but we would still encourage you to choose Fairtrade products when doing your supermarket shop.
Traidcraft, however, does have a Christian dimension built in which goes that bit further for the producer.
More recently, we have increased our support by buying only Traidcraft toilet tissue.
It is hoped that in the future, we will find other ways to extend our commitment to making trade fair for all. We do not profit from the stall ourselves. We do get a small discount from Traidcraft plc and that, along with the excess, which comes from our customers telling us to “keep the change,” allows us to make annual donations to Traidcraft Exchange and Christian Aid.
