The Arran Fairtrade group took part in the national ‘Fairtrade Fortnight' campaign – which this year has the theme ‘the Big Swap’.
The idea is that everyone is encouraged to swap their usual brands for fairtrade ones when they do their shopping. This action reflects the urgency of expanding Fairtrade to benefit more farmers and their dependents in developing countries.

These images from the Arran Schools Fairtrade Fortnight poster competition depict the Primary and Secondary school winners and their entries.

Jan MacGregor from Fairtrade Arran said ‘ We want everyone on Arran to get busy swapping for Fairtrade. Swap your usual bananas for Fairtrade bananas, your usual honey for Fairtrade honey and your usual cup of tea or coffee for a Fairtrade cup. Each swap will help show how people on Arran want producers in the developing world to get a fairer deal’.

Jan has herself recently visited several Traidcraft producers in India on a ‘Meet the People Tour’ and is more than ever convinced that buying Fairtrade in the UK and on Arran does make a difference to the farmers and other producers in the developing world.

Fairtrade Fortnight was from Monday 22nd February to Sunday 7th March, and there were two main events on the island.

Fair Trade Coffee Morning ‘the big brew’, in Whiting Bay Church on Saturday 27th February, ran from 10.30 to 12md. Fairtrade coffee and tea was available as well as a Traidcraft stall and other Fairtrade gifts and goods. Jan MacGregor showed some pictures from her trip to India and some of the products she purchased. She was happy to answer questions about Fairtrade and the Meet the People tour. We drink 165 million cups of tea in the UK every day – that makes us a powerful player in the global tea trade. You can make a difference to someone's life just by buying and drinking Fairtrade tea or coffee.

The second event was in the Brodick Cooperative Store on Saturday the 6th March.
Local sculptor Marvin Elliot had designed some Fairtrade ‘people’ who you may have come across when you were shopping. They were beautifully decorated by all the primary school children on Arran and were on display in the store to encourage you to make the '‘big swap’ to buying Fairtrade. You may have recognised them by the clothes they were wearing which represented the national costume of their country. We are grateful to all the children and to Marvin Elliot for their active support to Fairtrade.

Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation says ‘When times are tough for families here, they are desperate for producers in developing countries. Getting involved delivers real change for producers’.