Exciting News As Llanelli Fairtrade Grows To Greater Heights
Setting up Fairtrade, over the past 4 years has been very hard work but with our wonderful steering group and great councillors supporting us things have moved on at quite a fast pace. All of us are very exhilarated by our new Fairtrade projects and we now need your support
- Fairtrade Friendship benches
Over this time, I have informed you about what Fairtrade does, whether dressed as a Fairtrade banana or giving talks to all your organisations or visiting schools or receiving support from the local councils or writing articles for the Llanelli Standard so you are , dear readers, very aware of what it does. So, just a quick reminder, Fairtrade Llanelli promotes awareness of our Co-operatives which help farmers in the developing world. They are the true activists fighting the climate crisis and protecting the environment due to their farming methods, growing the crops for us that we are unable to grow.
Llanelli MIND and Llanelli FAIRTRADE have decided to work together for the first time on this project. 50+ Carmarthenshire are delighted to give their support for this project as this will be beneficial for the over 50s in particular. The other community group involved is the Llanelli Men’s Shed who will make these benches although they will be paid for the work as they too have to survive. We wish to set up these benches all over the constituency and we hope that with the support of the councils and local businesses we can look at mental health issues by using Fairtrade awareness.
The idea is that they will provide a way of reducing the isolation that people can feel as they will be an actual talking point encouraging total strangers to chat, sit and read what is on the bench.
The benches will be painted in Fairtrade colours and the Fairtrade mark will be there. As for the Mental Health issues, the benches will be covered in messages in metal. There will be :
- Samaritans Telephone number
- MIND information
- LINKS info – another local mental health organization
- A friendship statement
- A Fairtrade principle
- The Funder’s information
- Bi-lingual
In fact, if you want to add something to your bench , feel free to let us know.
They will add colour and brightness in the area. Even if they bring a smile to someone’s face or start pleasant chats with complete strangers, they will have done their duty in breaking down barriers and helping to combat the dreadful isolation that is rife generally, due to COVID, lockdowns but also for the many people living alone with little support.
So far we have orders for 6 benches and possibly 8. They must be placed in a local park and not on the highway. We only ask each council that they fund us for £200 per bench. We would ask you, dear readers, to approach your local businesses to see if they would spend £200 on a bench for local people who need their support.
We are a very basic group. We have not asked MIND for any money. We feel that MIND is using their own money to help those with mental health issues. We wish to support that so we have agreed to carry the load for the benches. Hence we are turning to the local Town, Rural and Community councils and/or businesses and individuals to fund us .
The benches from the Men’s Shed will cost a minimum of £100 each. So the next order will cost more as the cost of wood has rocketed. On top of that is the paint and the cost of metal plaques from Timpsons and a proper painter and decorator.
Once we have several benches finished and on site and this will not be able to be done quickly, we will want a huge advertising campaign and we will need the help of anyone who has contacts with local TV, radio, Newspapers and SC4. That way people will know about the benches and use them. It will also be a very exciting project showing how community groups in Llanelli can work together and that Llanelli is doing something practical to support people with mental health problems and is supporting the Llanelli Fairtrade awareness campaign.
- Fairtrade Day – Burry Port Memorial Hall – S4C will be attending
Our very first Fairtrade Day will be taking place at BURRY PORT Memorial Hall on the first Monday of half term on October 25th. It is free entry and it starts at 2pm and goes on to at least 6pm in the evening. Nia Griffith , our extremely supportive MP, will be there at 2pm to present Llanelli Fairtrade with their certificate as we have achieved Fairtrade status for Llanelli, as a Fairtrade community and zone.
We have many activities for the children which are fun and educational from 2pm to 4.30. From 5pm we have a Fairtrade wine and local cheese tasting, with real Welsh cheese makers who will want you to taste and buy their cheeses. If you wish to donate to Fairtrade, feel free , but there will be no pressure on you to do so.
We just want you to come along and enjoy yourselves and learn a little more about Fairtrade. There will be Fairtrade businesses attending and there will be a great day.
We hope that it will be the start of more Fairtrade days supported by all our councils and we owe our thanks to Louise Robinson, the local community development officer, without whom this could not have taken place.
- Publicity
We need as much publicity as we can get. So spread the word and come along. If there are any groups who would like to invite Fairtraders to be a guest speaker we would be very happy to come along.
REMEMBER – BURRY PORT MEMORIAL HALL – 25TH OCTOBER FROM 2PM
COME AND HAVE SOME FUN
