When the market town of Garstang in Lancashire, made a pledge to support Fairtrade ten years ago, little did they realise that they were triggering a global social movement that a decade later has spread to millions of people in over 800 towns in 19 countries, and is growing by the day.

Fairtrade campaigners from around the world will descend on Garstang this weekend (24 April) to mark the 10th anniversary of a global initiative first launched at a public meeting in April 2000 as a way of getting people, churches, schools and businesses to buy Fairtrade products in order to support producers and their communities in developing countries.

Bruce Crowther, who was the founding member of the Garstang group and is now Fairtrade Towns Advisor for the Fairtrade Foundation, said: ‘When we first launched our campaign our aim was simply to get people to help make trade fairer for farmers from developing countries. We never envisioned that we would inspire people around the world to do the same and campaign within their communities to make people’s shopping habits more ethical.’

Garstang Town Council’s resolution to use Fairtrade products whenever possible and the action of the Garstang community to support their town as a Fairtrade Town was the basis for the five goals later developed by the Fairtrade Foundation, which any town, city, village, island, borough, county or zone, wishing to call itself Fairtrade works towards today. To find out more go to: www.fairtradetowns.org

So well-known is the Fairtrade Towns movement that birthday well wishers include Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Gordon Brown, who says: ‘Your town has been an inspiration to so many over the past decade and I wish you many more successful years challenging us all to make a difference.’ 

Other well wishers include one of the Fairtrade Foundation’s founder organisations Oxfam . Campaign Executive Pushpanath Krishnamurthy said: ‘What Fairtrade is today is because of selfless, untiring and imaginative work done by committed campaigners everywhere. They are an inspiration to people like me - truly silent revolutionaries.’ For more messages go to: www.fairtrade.org.uk

Events will be attended by campaigners from Japan and Germany, with live video links with Garstang’s linked community of New Koforidua in Ghana and Media, the first Fair Trade Town in the USA.

Harriet Lamb, the Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation who will be a guest speaker at the evening event, said: ‘The Fairtrade Towns movement is testimony to the power of ordinary people acting together to change the way trade works, and to support farmers, their families and communities in developing countries. The people of Garstang have been the torchbearers of this amazing social movement that has spread like wildfire. One idea from this one town is now inspiring a generation of people to get involved in making Fairtrade famous in their locality, opening more doors for more producers overseas.’

In the last ten years, the Fairtrade Towns movement has grown rapidly  and now numbers almost 500 Fairtrade Towns in the UK, and 320 Fair Trade Towns around the rest of the world. The UK boasts the biggest Fairtrade City in the world London, with 22 out of its 32 Boroughs achieving Fairtrade status. International Fairtrade cities now include Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Rome, Wellington and San Francisco all working together as part of a collective peoples’ push, to change the way trade is done.

The Fairtrade grassroots campaign has been instrumental in persuading companies to stock Fairtrade and help make Fairtrade part of the nation’s shopping habits. Fairtrade certified producer organisations are paid a price which covers the costs of sustainable production and also receive a Fairtrade premium, additional income for community development projects. In the last 10 years Fairtrade sales in the UK have grown  from almost £33 million to an estimated retail value of over £799m, and there are now more than 4,500 Fairtrade certified products available, from Fairtrade organisations like Traidcraft and Liberation, as well as  mainstream brands such as Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Nestle four finger Kit Kat, Starbucks and Ben & Jerry’s.

View the slideshow:  From Garstang to the world -