Fairtrade Fortnight

25 February 2010

As we’re in the swing of Fairtrade Fortnight (22 February – 7 March 2010), we’d like to share with you a project at Cumbernauld YMCA, Scotland, which has brought people of all ages together to learn about how trade justice can have a profound effect on people's livelihoods.

The six-month ‘Fairtrade Awareness project’, which was funded through Y Care International's seed funding programme, saw cross-generational groups in Cumbernauld, Airdrie and Motherwell, sample Fairtrade products, take part in quizzes and learn more about how Fairtrade benefits people in developing countries. The young people involved also challenged supermarkets by being mystery shoppers and now feel so confident about what they've learned that they've started telling others about why they should choose Fairtrade goods.

The YMCA project worker, Caroline Laing says: “The project has developed my knowledge of Fairtrade to the point where it influences my shopping choices more than before. I am looking forward to organising another, bigger global youth work project in the future.”