Support for Fairtrade increasingly also means support for sustainability and actions to limit climate change. Consequently, it was the Wycombe Fairtrade Steering Group’s pleasure to be represented when Wycombe Friends of the Earth and the Wycombe Environment Centre (Refresh) celebrated their 20^th and 25^th anniversaries respectively at Trinity United Reformed Church on Weds 4^th November 2026.

Mike and Sheena King of the Wycombe for Fairtrade Steering Group were among over 60 people who attended this joint celebration which was marked by the attendance of Asad Rehman, the CEO of the Friends of the Earth organization. He delivered an interesting and encouraging message in that despite climate change being a global problem, he stressed the importance of local group raising awareness and engaging with local people through social media and locally arranged events.

Mike Chadwick, the former Coordinator of Wycombe Friends of the Earth from its early days, and Richard Andrews, the current Coordinator recalled notable events over the last 20 years.

Their latest campaign is focusing on the use of plastics and the increasing dangers of plastic waste.

Ellen Hawes from Wycombe Museum spoke about the Wycombe Environment Centre (WEC) and the vital groundwork achieved by Frances Alexander over the first 20 years of the organization. The WEC manages the Refresh store in Church Street and runs a well-attended monthly Repair Café at All Saints Church where clothes, electrical items, watches, and many other household items can be renovated.

The WFoE, WEC and other local organizations had information stall around the edge of the room  which included posters, flyers, and leaflets.

For the full report and images please click the link below to the recent Bucks Free Press article.
https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/26702339.wycombe-friends-earth-celebrates-20-year-anniversary

Mike King
Chairman Wycombe For Fairtrade

This is a summary of Wycombe For Fairtrade’s requested visit to St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Thame on 3^rd November 2026 to present two Fairtrade-themed assemblies.

A huge thank you from the rest of the Wycombe For Fairtrade Steering Group for Lesley Hatton’s and Sarah Moroz’s combined efforts on this.

Lesley delivered two engaging presentations to the KS2 and KS1 groups, totalling around 140 pupils, at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Thame last Tuesday. The presentation had the right blend of facts, images, videos, a game, and songs, together with a very practical quiz which engaged both pupil cohorts.

Sarah masterminded the Fairtrade products shopping game which occupied the pupils’ attention and interest throughout.

The Deputy Head of the school, Sarah-Jane Morrissey, was very welcoming and helpful, as were the teachers we met. We were very impressed with this school, with both its equipment and the friendly learning environment and positive atmosphere. I think that Sarah Jane was impressed with the presentations and with the level of pupil participation. The children certainly sang the Fairtrade songs embedded within the presentation with gusto, and they were totally absorbed by Pablo the Super-Banana! Most of the pupils got all 5 correct answers to the Fairtrade Quiz questions, which underlined that understanding and learning had taken place.

I think that it was a win-win situation today – our presence helped St Joseph’s Catholic School along the road to achieving the next stage of their CAFOD sponsored “Live Simply” award, and it benefitted Wycombe For Fairtrade enormously by providing us with an up-to-date Fairtrade session within a primary school, which was part of our strategy to engage and introduce more youngsters to the existence and purpose of Fairtrade. The fact that we were requested by the Deputy Head to do another Fairtrade assembly in 2027 was especially rewarding, and hopefully, the images generated by both the Deputy Head and me will help to spread the word to other primary schools in the area. 

Lesley’s hard work in putting together presentations for two primary school age groups, certainly paid off and meant that we now have two valuable Powerpoint resources to utilize and repeat in other primary schools in High Wycombe, should the opportunity present itself in the future. We won’t have reinvent the wheel!

It was a very constructive and productive exercise today which more than justified the combined time and thought in putting these two 20-minute Fairtrade – themed assemblies together. Hopefully, the children would have been given their Fairtrade stickers at the end of the day by the teaching staff and over their family meal on Tuesday evening, pupils were busy indoctrinating their parents to buy Fairtrade products on the next visit to their Thame supermarket.

A big thank you again to both Lesley and Sarah for making this happen and giving Wycombe For Fairtrade a valuable opportunity to talk about Fairtrade to a whole primary school.

Mike King
Chairman, Wycombe For Fairtrade