The Race is on...Looking for the Last 80 Churches to Make us a Fairtrade Diocese!

Four years ago, the diocese of Oxford pledged to work to become a Fairtrade Diocese.   To get that status, we need at least 60% of our churches to pledge to use only Fairtrade tea and coffee for all meetings for which they are responsible.  Thanks to many churches' tremendous work, we now have 50% - more than 400 churches - signed up to the pledge.  To make it official, we need just 80 more to follow suit!  To find out why your church should do it, read on - and don't forget to enter our competition to win some Doves Organic Fairtrade bars!

You probably already use Fairtrade products. If so, you’re already making a difference. Using Fairtrade products means millions of developing country producers get a fair deal - better prices for their goods, an education for their children, better healthcare… the knowledge they can feed their families. And as Fairtrade grows, more and more people benefit. Fairtrade sales in this country are projected to top £400 million this year, and worldwide  sales are already well over £1 billion. Thanks to this, Fairtrade-Marked products alone now benefit over seven million people. You’ve made this happen! It’s thanks to customer demand that so many shops now stock fairly traded goods. And it’s our hope that this kind of consumer concern will also help to get fairer terms for producers in this country, as well.

So why join the campaign? When you sign on to the diocesan campaign, you not only benefit producers by your purchases, you also help to  raise the profile of fairly traded goods as a whole. When a diocese becomes a Fairtrade Diocese, that’s news! Signing on will also help us fulfil the commitments that were made in diocesan synod four years ago. As one person pointed out, ‘if we don’t reach the target and become a Fairtrade Diocese, it will look as if we don’t actually care about the issue’. We know you care – now we just have to prove it.

For many churches, pledging on Fair Trade is one part of  their commitment to justice. Sandra Clark, the parish administrator in Chalfont St Peter explained: ‘It’s about justice and poverty issues and that is what the Bible talks about. If Christians want to take their faith and the Bible seriously, that’s what they ought to be doing.’

Her church is using Fairtrade for community outreach, too. They marked last year's  Big Brew (see below for more information on this) event with a coffee morning, which then inspired a Fairtrade coffee morning and Traidcraft stall once a month. That has now expanded to include a book stall with second hand books, which is attracting people from outside the church community.

‘If you still need persuading to join up, here is Bishop John: ‘I’d love Oxford Diocese to be a Fairtrade Diocese just as soon as possible.

‘It seems to me it is one of the clearest and simplest signals that we Christians are serious  about creating a just world, where God’s priorities are our priorities.

‘Please go for it! It is painless and good for the world.’

So what do you have to do? It is pretty easy: churches have to send in a form, available on the website below . Copies of the form will also be sent to all non-signed up churches in the next few weeks. These forms list three criteria for becoming a Fairtrade Church: to get your church listed under the diocesan campaign, you only need to sign up to use Fairtrade tea and coffee for all meetings for which you (as a church, or PCC) are responsible – something most churches already do anyway. If you tick all three, then you can go on to be a fully functioning Fairtrade Church!

You can find out if your church is already signed up by looking on www.oxford.anglican.org/Fairtrade. Please sign up and help the Diocese of Oxford show it does care about the issue of  Fair Trade – we really hope to have reached our target by next spring’s Fairtrade Fortnight in March.

The Big Brew
This Fair Trade event is supported by Traidcraft and offers churches a chance to brew up a Fairtrade cup of tea or coffee for friends, neighbours and the wider community.

Last year was the first time churches in the Diocese of Oxford participated, with more than 80 taking part. Organisers hope even more will join in this year. The  Mothers' Union is also participating, and is asking all of its branches to hold a ‘Big Brew’ event. Catering packs for the event and promotional posters can be ordered from 29 Anderson’s Close, Kidlington, OX5 1ST by 5 January.

If ordering a catering pack of teabags, cookies, coffee and sugar, please ensure a cheque for £5 payable to Traidcraft plc is enclosed.

Big Brew will run from 2-9 March 2008. Details of further events near you will be published in the near future.

Write a prayer for farmers and win a Doves Farm Fairtrade pack

Berkshire company Doves Farm Foods have teamed up with the DOOR to offer five readers the chance to win a selection pack of their Fairtrade snackbars.

The company are based in the Diocese, in Hungerford, and produce organic flour, biscuits, cereals as well as snack bars. The company is run by Michael and Clare Marriage. Their family has farmed in the area since 1958, and the farm first went organic in 1976.

We are pleased to team up with Doves Farm to offer five readers the chance to win one of their delicious selection packs. To enter, write a prayer for farmers near and far and send it in to The DOOR, North Hinksey Lane, Oxford OX2 ONB by November 12.