Fairtrade St Austell News Archive 2008
Fairtrade Festivities
Exotic fresh and dried fruit, nuts and spices, wine... Traditional Christmas fare with a conscience.
Now that St Austell has become a Fairtrade Town, there are plenty of opportunities to make this festive season a Fairtrade one.
Whether you are shopping for cards and gifts or for food and drink to make your celebrations special, you will find plenty of Fairtrade goodies to choose from in our
local shops. And if you can make it into town on a Tuesday evening between now and Christmas, you can join in St Austell's festive celebrations while you shop.
Many of the shops will be open until 9pm.
To start you off, in the Oxfam shop in Aylmer Square you will find Fairtrade cards, CDs, bags and T-shirts as well as an impressive array of second-hand books. Also in Aylmer Square, Bump to Baby has fairly traded items in its wide choice of interesting clothes for mothers and babies.
Around the corner in Vicarage Place, Country Store Health Foods has a range of Fairtrade teas, herbal infusions, ground and instant coffee, solar-dried fruits from Africa,
and delicious chocolate and snack bars – perfect for Christmas stockings or for special gifts for discerning friends.
Photo copyright © Marcus Lyon, courtesy Fairtrade Foundation
Look out for Fairtrade bags and clothing in Boots and Accessorize in Fore Street, and for unusual fairly traded gifts and cards in The Good News Bookshop in High Cross Street.
For a variety of seasonal Fairtrade fresh fruit, including grapefruit and other citrus, pineapples and bananas, as well as nuts, spices, tea and coffee, chocolate and an assortment of cakes, biscuits and wine, visit St Austell Co-op, a pioneer in bringing Fairtrade produce to St Austell. Fairtrade foods and drinks can also be found in Asda, Lidl and Tesco.
Shopping can be exhausting, especially at this time of year, so it is heartening to know that you can relax with a cup of refreshing Fairtrade tea or coffee in a local cafés or pub. Try Café Barnys or the White Hart if you are in the centre of town, or Costa Coffee on the Pentewan Road. And if your leisure time includes a visit to Wheal Martyn, Heligan Gardens or the Eden Project, don't forget to call in for Fairtrade drinks and snacks.
For more details of Fairtrade shopping in St Austell, see our Fairtrade Directory.
Why not see how much festive fair trade you can bring to your home this winter? Look out for the FAIRTRADE Mark in shops throughout the town.
[26.11.08]
Taste St Austell
From October 18th to 25th 2008 a series of events was held in St Austell town centre to encourage local people to sample local produce. Shops ran promotions throughout
the week, chefs demonstrated their skills and offered tasters, and the many people who came to buy and sell at the one-day produce market in the Engine House were a clear
indication of its value to the local commmunity.
Atlantic FM Radio's Tim Ley broadcast live from Biddicks Court, which took on the feel of a market with a variety of promotional stalls including an impressive display of
free tasters and information set up by Fairtrade St Austell.
There was a great deal of interest in the Fairtrade St Austell display, where Mike gave out samples of the wide range of Fairtrade chocolate and snacks available in the town and talked to visitors about the importance of fair trade to farmers, producers and their communities.
There were so many positive comments about Taste St Austell that plans are already under way to have an even better celebration of local food in 2009. For more information, contact Debbie Osborne on 01726 63077 or debbie.osborne@restormel.gov.uk
[26.11.08]
St Austell is now a Fairtrade Town!
Annette Egerton, leader of Restormel Borough Council, accepts the Fairtrade Town certificate on behalf of the people of St Austell from the Mayor, Councillor Mrs Jackie Bull
Saturday August 16th was a landmark day for the Fairtrade St Austell steering group, who saw their efforts of the last eighteen months rewarded with the achievement of Fairtrade Town status for St Austell. The occasion was marked at the White Hart Hotel with the presentation by the Mayor of Restormel, Councillor Mrs Jackie Bull, of a framed Fairtrade Town certificate awarded by the Fairtrade Foundation which was accepted on behalf of the people of St Austell by Annette Egerton, leader of Restormel Borough Council. Certificates were also awarded to participating retailers and churches in the town, including Asda, The Co-operative, Country Store Health Foods, Mount Charles Methodist Church, Oxfam, St Augustine of Hippo Roman Catholic Church and the White Hart Hotel. The draw for a box of Fairtrade goodies was won by Michelle Triniman of Country Store Health Foods.
We are, of course, absolutely delighted, but we are all too aware that, with some two billion people worldwide – a third of all humanity – working hard and still struggling to survive on less than US$2 a day, there is still much to do to bring about fairer trade policies. We can all play our part by choosing Fairtrade products. The retailers of St Austell are proud to be able to offer shoppers a wide selection of Fairtrade goods. Visit our directory pages or pick up one of our new eye-catching leaflets from participating premises to find out where to shop, and remember to look for the FAIRTRADE Mark.
We would like to see Fairtrade items available in even more premises, so if your favourite shop, B&B, pub or café is not already selling Fairtrade products, or your school, college, place of worship or workplace does not offer Fairtrade refreshments, please encourage it to do so. There is more information elsewhere on this site and on the Fairtrade Foundation website.
[03.09.08]
Fairtrade fare at Wheal Martyn
Wheal Martyn – St Austell's China Clay Country Park – is now
offering Fairtrade tea, coffee and Geobars in its café. Wheal Martyn is a great
place for a day out, with imaginative displays and exhibits documenting the fascinating history of the china clay industry. The stunning new extension is a perfect
space for exhibitions and is currently showing work by local artist Roy Steadman, including paintings of Charlestown and the clay district.
Situated along the Bodmin road two miles from St Austell, Wheal Martyn can also be accessed by bicycle or on foot via an easy and enjoyable car-free offroad trail from the town.
For more information, visit www.wheal-martyn.com
[20.04.08]
‘Chocolate Makes the World Go Round’
On 28th February we were delighted to welcome Paul and Kojo from Kuapa Kokoo farmers' co-operative in Ghana to St Austell as part of our Fairtrade Fortnight events.
Despite the cold, damp weather, they were very happy to walk around the town and meet some of our Fairtrade retailers. In the afternoon they went to the Eden Project to
talk to visitors about their work as cocoa producers for Divine Chocolate.
Paul and Kojo displaying Divine Chocolate Easter eggs in Country Store Health Foods
You can read about Kojo and Paul's ‘Chocolate Makes the World Go Round’ tour and see more photos at http://divinechocolate.blogspot.com
[28.03.08]
On the Fairtrade Treasure Trail
During Fairtrade Fortnight we invited people to join in the Fairtrade Treasure Trail, learn more about fair trade and have the chance to win prizes kindly donated by
Divine Chocolate, the Co-op and the Eden Project. There was a great deal of interest in the competition, and the winners received their prizes at a special presentation in
the Engine House. Our thanks to Café Barnys, the Co-op, Country Store Health Foods, Good News Bookshop, Lidl, Oxfam, Smorgers and the White Hart for allowing us
to use their windows to display our Fairtrade questions.
Treasure Trail winners (l to r) Alisha Pollard, Pam Abraham and Gill Etherington with Kim and Michael from the Fairtrade St Austell steering group
[28.03.08]
