FAIRTRADE WALK

The Fortnight ended with more action aimed at taking the message out of Ammanford, as people from the town joined others from around the Swansea area for a Fairtrade Walk from the Oxfam Shop in Swansea to The Red Cafe at The Mumbles; a lovely walk along Swansea Bay, with Fairtrade bananas to power us on and a wonderful Fairtrade menu waiting for us at The Red Cafe at the end. (The sort of menu every cafe in every Fairtrade Town should have!)

This walk was inspired by The Fairtrade Way, a long distance walk from Garstang, the First Fairtrade Town in England, up through the Fairtrade Towns of the Lake District to Keswick. I joined part of the walk pioneering the route last year, and we are now planning to get a series of Fairtrade Walks through Wales, including routes from Ammanford to Carmarthen and Ammanford to Swansea. The idea is to use the walks to link, and publicise, Fairtrade Towns, retail outlets, cafes and Bed And Breakfasts, hotels and youth hostels.

I love the idea of the Fairtrade Walks as they are such a good physical symbol of how the Fairtrade movement in the UK has spread in the last ten years though Grass Roots activity in villages, towns and cities thoughout Wales and the UK.

Phil Broadhurst

Anybody interested in promoting Fairtrade locally can contact Phil Broadhurst : riversidepicnic@yahoo.co.uk or 01269 596933 or go to www.fairtrade.org.uk for support.