WYCOMBE FOR FAIRTRADE
Minutes of meeting: 11th July 2017
Avenue Methodist Church, Rutland Avenue
Those present:
Mike King Jhon Munoz
Sheena King Bob Smith
Sarah Moroz
MK – the Chairman of Wycombe District Council, Suzanne Brown, was very supportive of us at the Art Competition presentation event and MK asked if we could have a meeting with her
MK – we have now only got a few pounds left in the group’s bank account. TT may have contacts who would be willing to sponsor us. MK will contact the person at Bewleys (Alize)
SM – will pursue the idea that Suzanne Brown put forward re: bidding to have our group added to the beneficiaries of the new Wycombe Lottery
SK – we have been invited to hold a stall at next year’s open garden event in Radnage. Also Wycombe Arts Society has asked if we could help source FT biscuits for their meetings. SK passed on local Traidcraft reps contact details.
MK – has written to Rebellion Brewery to suggest the idea of a FT beer. They sent back a supportive e-mail. MK has asked them if we could put their logo on our material.
MK – it is disappointing re: Sainsburys bringing out its own version of Fairtrade tea/coffee. However, Waitrose, Lidl & Co-op have continued supporting FT.
BS – we could contact Sainsbury’s and ask them to give an account of how the ‘premium’ money has been spent.
JM – we could contact local companies and ask if they would be willing to sponsor us and we could offer to put their logos on our material
MK – his niece worked for Windsor & Eton brewery and they are very community-minded. They supply the Royal Standard in Forty Green. She is going to ask if they would be willing to sponsor us. There was a company in Kent that brewed Fairtrade beer.
SM – we could ask Bewleys if they would be willing to donate £100(?) per year to us.
JM – suggests we could set up a meeting with the managing director of Bewleys, who is based locally
MK – it would be good to get a re-statement of Wycombe DC’s support at some point.
The possibility of a market stall could be investigated again.
BS – thinks that the market is organised by a private company.
SK – the Wycombe Harvest event that we had a stall at, was organised by BidsCo
MK – re: the retailers in Wycombe – he has found out that the Red Squirrel Co does not use FT tea or coffee. There are various hotels and B & B’s in Wycombe but it is difficult to get to know if they use FT at all.
SM – we could ask Bewleys if they supply stock to any hotel vending machines in Wycombe.
MK – if JM’s friend from Sweden comes over we could use him to help us establish a link with Adam’s Park.
MK – we need to ensure that WFF is represented at as many local events as possible
SM – Suzanne Brown seemed to indicate she may be willing to donate some money towards helping us with public liability insurance
SK – maybe we could hold our presentation event next year in council offices
JM – has been updating our Facebook page with our latest news.
SM – re: local press – it may be a good idea to try Bucks Advertiser/Examiner next time, instead of Bucks Free Press
MK – re: establishing a link with producers in the developing world
JM – still has a link with a manager at Liberation Nuts who may be able to act as a link with producer groups
JM – re: the next FT Towns conference – it will be in Europe in September and he hopes to attend.
JM – in our evidence for applying for FT Town status renewal, we can say that we have supported the petitions against Sainsburys
SK – re: next Tuesday’s event – set-up is 6-6.45pm and doors open at 7pm. There will be a FT stall (stock from David Sparks). Ivan thinks that about 30 people will be coming.
BS – will be leading the worship at the Avenue and will be talking about the FT footballs and showing a video about it.
Next meeting: provisional date of 31/07/17 – to be confirmed by Mike