Another busy and exciting Fairtrade Fortnight in 2022! Thank you to everyone who came to our events and to all community groups which hosted their own events. Here we showcase a snapshot of the exciting things which happened around Wales, this year. 

Fair Trade Wales 

For Fairtrade Fortnight 2022 we focused again on climate justice, highlighting the growing challenges that climate change brings to farmers and workers in the communities Fairtrade works with. Our headline event Fair Fashion? A conversation on fashion, race and climate justice brought together 3 inspirational leaders to speak on the intersection of climate, race and fast fashion:

• Ophelia Dos Santos – Welsh textile designer & climate activist
• Simmone Ahiaku – Campaigner, geographer, writer and educator
• Subindu Garkhel – Cotton and textiles lead at the Fairtrade Foundation

Watch the recording of the event now!

We also worked with the Minister for Social Justice Jane Hutt, running an online conversation about fashion and climate change with Ranga CEO Dibella India and Andy from Koolkompany. Listen to their conversation. 

Members of the Senedd also showed support through signing the statement of opinion tabled by Heledd Fychan MS. 

Swansea Fair Trade Forum 

The Swansea Fair Trade Forum were very busy this year running everything from a clothes swap shop, promoting sustainable fashion to a Fairtrade cocktail masterclass! Another great event organised by them this year was a coffee morning for Welsh learners at the Environment Centre in partnership with Menter Iaith Abertawe. 

Competitions and online events 

In the Vale of Glamorgan local councils and Fair Trade groups joined together to hold a Fairtrade youth competition. The competition encouraged young people to get creative and share a message to inspire climate action. Blaenau Gwent opted for a challenge for KS1-4 children to design a Fairtrade logo from paper or plastic waste. 

Sussed – the Fairtrade shop in Porthcawl – held an online event Coffi Culture. It involved readings from the book Gorwelion Shared Horizons, and contributions from Robert Minhinnick, Sampurna Chattarji, Christopher Meredith & Elen Jones. Why not watch the recording of their event?

Hay-on-Wye 

One of the shops which we partnered with this year was Eighteen Rabbit in Hay. Before heading to the shop, we caught up with the local group who had a stall at the butter market. Then it was time to shop… Alongside their usual amazing selection of everything Fairtrade, Eighteen Rabbit had a hamper and an eye-catching window display for Fairtrade Fortnight. If you haven’t been yet, this is your cue to go!

Coffee mornings 

Several groups organised coffee mornings this year. Conwy held one at the local college, Coleg Llandrillo, as well as raffling a Fairtrade hamper at the Fairtrade shop in Llandudno, Kingdom Krafts. 

Coffee mornings were also held by Abergavenny Fairtrade Forum, Monmouth Fairtrade forum and Cardiff Met University – who also ran a Fairplay Fairtrade football game!

Banners and flags

If you passed through the capital city during Fairtrade Fortnight, you might have seen Fairtrade flags flying from Cardiff Castle. Similarly walking through the centres of Holyhead and Denbigh you also likely saw “Choose Fairtrade” and “Denbigh is a Fairtrade town” respectively. 

Newcastle Emlyn 

Last on our stop this year was Fair & Fabulous, a Fairtrade shop in Newcastle Emlyn which is a real hub of the community. Thinking outside of the box, the local group organised a community planting event in partnership with many other local organisations. It was lovely to see a community spirit brought together by a passion for both Fairtrade and climate action. 

The group also organised a cold water swim and a quiz in partnership with local shops in the town, with a Fairtrade hamper as the prize. 

It is worth noting that this is not an exhaustive list of every activity in Wales during Fairtrade Fortnight 2022, but rather a random selection of some things which might have happened in your local community. 

We hope you all enjoyed celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight this year either online with us, with your local group or through purchasing Fairtrade. Get involved with the movement and watch this space for more info on World Fair Trade Day – Sat 14 May.