WYCOMBE FOR FAIRTRADE
Minutes of meeting: 28th March 2017
Micklefield Library, Micklefield Road
Those present:
Mike King Jhon Munoz
Sheena King Bob Smith
Sarah Moroz Tony Thornby
JM – showed Bala balls, leaflets and posters
MK – has sent £50 to Wycombe Sound for the air-time that we had + felt that it was good value for money. We now have about £113 left in our account.
SM – need to look on the WS website and download the interview that took place with the lady from Ruby Moon
BS – thinks it took place on the Thursday of the 1st week of FT Fortnight
JM – asked whether we have any status as a group (charity status etc) so we can ask for funding.
SM – FT Foundation is a charity but our individual group hasn’t got a specific status.
SK – we could have got money off the cost of the banner if we had charity status
MK – felt that WS was really useful for informing people about FT, particularly as we have had problems in the past with the Bucks Free.
MK – has tried to get the ‘We stock Fairtrade Here’ stickers into shop windows and has also left some of our leaflets at WS.
TT – the coverage of WS seems to be fairly large area
JM – has been listening to WS and feels they are engaging with local groups
MK – WS cannot monitor how many listeners they have. The potential is 130,000.
MK – over the last 18 months there have been 5 new caterers and 2 new retailers added to our list of FT suppliers in the town. The cafe at the Sports Centre is council-run and must have been put out to tender and it serves FT. Someone may have had an influence. The Co-op at Downley and the cafe at M&S had a good, prominent push on FT during FT fortnight.
MK – has put more copies of our directory leaflet in the tourist information centre and in the library. Lush have some cosmetics etc which are Fair Trade but not Fairtrade.
JM – there is an organisation in the Netherlands which organises Fair Trade products. They don’t do the Fairtrade premium but do have environmental standards etc.
SM – showed the ‘Fairtrade Cocoa Program’ logo on a Panettone box – this means that it doesn’t have to fulfil the criterion that ‘all ingredients which can be FT must be FT’.
MK – will send out the ‘Aims and Objectives 2015 – 2017’ document to the group so we can see what has been achieved. We haven’t got very far with the road signs but there are still plans for Bucks New Uni to paint the underpass + include ‘Wycombe is a Fairtrade Town’ on the painting. We need to think about our Aims & Objectives for the next 2 year period.
JM – a man from Wycombe, who now lives in Sweden, has been in touch via Facebook + has asked whether Wycombe Wanderers (who he supports) has any FT connection eg. in their cafe. This man may be visiting Wycombe soon and perhaps we can meet up. He runs a Fairtrade shop in Sweden.
MK – Sweden is a Fairtrade country
SM – it would be interesting to know how obvious the FT profile is in Sweden
SM – gave an update re: the schools competition. Need to fix a date for judging the entries and arranging the presentation ceremony.
MK – when we get the renewal certificate it would be good to hold the presentation ceremony in council offices or the town hall.
SM – suggested 18/04/17 for us to get together to judge the art competition – this would be at Bob’s church (Avenue Methodist church)
TT – talked about three different options for a website design as per his e-mail.
MK – we need to work out a good navigation structure. We can look at the websites of other FT groups.
SK – there is another event at Pann Mill on May 14th.
TT – has prompted his contact at MRIB insurance again and someone did phone TT and ask for information. He is waiting to hear if they would be willing to help us with the insurance.
SK – the lady at Pann Mill has said that we could help with the Friends of the Earth stall but would need insurance to have our own stall.
JM – re: the FT art competition presentation, we could invite the headteachers.
SM – will enquire at various possible venues in the town eg. Library, Arts4Everyone, Adams Park, Bucks New Uni, Sports Centre. Perhaps we could invite the mayor to present the prizes?
MK – we could invite WS to cover it
MK – next year, we could perhaps get coverage on WS for individual producer stories during FT Fortnight.
Next meeting: Tuesday 18th April to judge FT art competition at Avenue Methodist Church