Our September meeting was a Fairtrade evening hosted by our member Sandra, who does sterling work on Fairtrade in Hackney, and Gilbert Smyth, who is Fairtrade Champion for Hackney Council. Fairtrade Fortnight was in September, and the Fairtrade mark celebrates 30 years this year. WI was one of the founding organisations of the Fairtrade Foundation.

Gilbert gave a very lively history of the Fairtrade Foundation and talked us through WI’s involvement, both as a founding member and as an important force in driving its growth, and especially in bringing the movement into mainstream consciousness.

He and Sandra amazed us with the wide array of Fairtrade products available, some of which we sampled during the evening, and provided more for members to purchase.