Shoppers in Cardiff’s St David’s Centre were treated to an afternoon of Salsa, Indian, Ballroom and Street Dancing this weekend at a Fair Trade Tea Dance hosted by Fair Trade Wales.
The event was held to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight’s Big Swap. In return for pledging to swap their regular shopping items for Fairtrade equivalents, shoppers were rewarded with samples of Fairtrade chocolate and cakes to keep them going during dance displays and workshops held throughout the day.
Elen Jones from Fair Trade Wales said: ‘We all love tea as it’s the nation’s favourite brew and the aim of the event was for everyone to have fun, to have a dance regardless of age or ability, and to share a cuppa. It was great to see the dancers getting the crowd going and we took over 1000 pledges from shoppers who were keen to learn more about Fairtrade.’
Shopper Tim Fisher, a children’s charity worker from Cardiff said: ‘I only stopped to watch the kids doing the street dancing but ended up talking to one of the volunteers and was persuaded to make a swap. From now on I will make sure all of the chocolate and wine I buy is Fairtrade!’
The event in Cardiff was one of six big events held across the UK to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight, the annual nationwide campaign to promote awareness of Fairtrade and encourage people to buy products, which carry the FAIRTRADE Mark.
Elen Jones said: ‘Although it was a lot of fun for everyone involved, the event also had a serious message. Fairtrade tea still represents only 10% of the UK market so we are calling on everyone to Swap Your Cuppa to Fairtrade tea or ask your workplace, school, shops or local cafés to make the switch and ensure that tea producers and workers in the developing world get a fairer deal.’
Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation said: ‘From face cream to ice cream and from rice to cereals, people can choose from a huge range of Fairtrade products. These swaps will mean we can deliver much greater change for producers from developing countries and help tip the balance of trade in their favour. Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 will show how our little actions add up to a lot and help to change lives.’
