Goal 3: Fairtrade Workplaces
Fairtrade products in the workplace, community organisations & schools
Workplaces
One of the challenges FTiN faced in helping Norwich become a Fairtrade City was to persuade more employers in Norwich to make Fairtrade choices for tea, coffee, chocolate, and so on available to their staff. To help lead this campaign we recruited two flagship Fairtrade Employers.
As part of our campaign to maintain Fairtrade City status for Norwich, we are continually trying to identify other local employers who serve and promote Fairtrade products to their staff. The list of local Fairtrade workplaces in the city includes:
- Banana Link
- Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
- Breakthrough Life Coaching & Training
- Greenhouse Trust
- Investing Ethically
- John Lewis
- Life-Change Coaching
- Norwich & Norfolk Voluntary Services
- Norwich City Council
- Norwich School of Art & Design
- Norfolk Education and Action for Development
- Mastins of Norwich
- Produced in Norfolk
- Rainbow Wholefoods Shop and Warehouse
- St Martins Housing Trust
- Student's Union at the University of East Anglia
- University of East Anglia
Please talk to your employer about providing Fairtrade tea and coffee options. Contact us for details of catering suppliers who stock Fairtrade. To help convert your office to fair trade, the Fairtrade Foundation offer some advice on their website: Convert Your Workplace. Also please tell us if you have switched to make your business fairtrade. We would love to hear from you and put you in the Fairtrade Guide to Norwich & Norfolk.
Community Organisations and Faith Groups
Many faith groups and their members are already enthusiastic supporters of fair trade practices, and trade justice issues in general. In Norwich for example, faith groups have supported the campaign for Norwich to become a Fairtrade City and some are now asking about how to become a Fairtrade Church (more on Fairtrade churches). Of the 40 Churches within the city, at least 20 are serving Fairtrade refreshments, many are selling Fairtrade goods, and a few have organised events to promote Fairtrade. Activities include:
- Chapelfield Methodist Church held a Fairtrade event in March 2005.
- Ipswich Road United Reform Church is a Fairtrade Church, using fairly-traded tea, coffee, sugar for church events. They hold a monthly Traidcraft stall after morning service (usually the first Sunday in the month) and have a Traidcraft stall at the Christmas Market every November
- New Hope Christian Centre, Martineau Lane, use Fairtrade tea and coffee in their offices and on Sunday service
- Norwich Cathedral's Refectory now serves Fairtrade drinks and snacks
- St John's Roman Catholic Cathedral offers Fairtrade refreshments after mass and other events, and sells them in the cathedral shop
- St Mary Magdalene Church, Silver Road, has a monthly Traidcraft stall Sundays
- St Matthews, Thorpe Hamlet held a Fairtrade event in Octotober 2004
- St Peter's Methodist, Park Lane, has been selling fairly-traded goods since 1985, and has a Traidcraft connection
- St Thomas's Parish Church, Earlham Road, holds a Traidcraft stall on the first Sunday of the month after the morning service, and use fairtrade tea and coffee at all events in church
- United Reform Church, Prince's Street, has a regular Fairtrade stall after services.
Schools
About half of the Norwich's 9 secondary schools are undertaking some type of Fairtrade activity. This includes stalls selling Fairtrade goods at breaktime and teaching about Fairtrade.
- Blyth Jex - Students learn about Fairtrade in Geography and they run a stall during Fairtrade Fortnight.
- Hewett School - Sixth Formers run a Fairtrade stall as part of their Young Co-operatives activities.
- Notre Dame - Sixth Formers run a Fairtrade stall almost every week, and Fairtrade is taught in a range of lessons. All students have participated in the Trading Game, which has been incorporated into the Year 8 curriculam. All tea and coffee for the staffroom is Fairtrade. The school canteen obtains some of its products from Fairtrade sources.
- Norwich Girls High School - Fairtrade is covered in Geography lessons. Some teachers have Fairtrade tea and coffee.
- West Earlham High School - Fairtrade is taught in lessons and assemblies.
The following primary schools in Norwich are engaged in some type of Fairtrade-related activity.
- Bignold First School - Fairtrade is covered through a range of activities and Fairtrade coffee is available in the staffroom.
- Chapel Break First School - Fairtrade is covered under the subjects of numeracy and food.
- Cringleford First School - Fairtrade is taught within numeracy and Food Studies and covers the issue during the Harvest Festival.
- Larkman Middle School - Covers Fairtrade in Geography and History.
The University of East Anglia is working its way to becoming a Fairtrade university. Fairtrade goods are sold at the union.
We need to hear from you!
If you'd like your school, workplace or local coffee shop to offer Fairtrade products we can provide you with support and information that will help you achieve this.
We need more members to join the Norwich Fairtrade City Monitoring Group. We'd like to hear from people who can represent Norwich-based faith groups, schools, business or media.
If you are a member of an organisation or faith group, or a member of staff in a school or a company that uses Fairtrade products anywhere in Norfolk, then let us know so we can add you to the next directory!
