Guernsey Fairtrade Island
Population: 60,000
Declaration date: 20th March 2006
www.fairtradeguernsey.com

The island of Guernsey embarked on its journey to achieve Fairtrade Island Status in 2004 with a very informal meeting with interested people. The formation of a Steering Group soon followed and members focused on the task ahead. We were fortunate to be able to build quickly on existing support in the community and the diverse skills of Steering Group members, particularly in the areas of education – in particular Personal Social and Health Education (P.S.H.E) and Citizenship subjects in the national curriculum - the media, retail and wholesale and churches. Confirmation of support for Fairtrade from the island’s government arrived in April 2005. Shortly after we considered we were in a position to apply for Fairtrade Island Status with all of the 5 targets at least met.

After discussion with The Fairtrade Foundation it was understood and agreed that the island needed to give more focus on two specific areas:  encourage more cafes/catering establishments to sell Fairtrade products and although we had many activities involving schools we needed to get more schools actually using Fairtrade products on the premises.  We were disappointed not to achieve Fairtrade Island Status but not defeated! More activity started, including the following:
•    Steering Group participation in a staff training day for local teachers;
•    Writing and speaking to Schools Councils encouraging them to support Fairtrade more actively
•    Creation of a small team of capable speakers willing to respond to requests from schools
•    Successfully getting more Fairtrade products in to more catering outlet thanks to partnerships with supportive wholesalers that made it possible for cafes and restaurants to order Fairtrade products.

A particular initiative that brought success was our participation in a schools Design-an-Advertisement competition. The Co-operative Society sponsored our participation which made it financially possible for us to take part. Organised by the local newspaper, the competition reaches almost all schools and all ages on the island and there were over 1,800 entries that year. There were over 80 entries about Fairtrade and the top junior award was won by a newspaper advertisement design for Fairtrade – great publicity!

In August we again spoke to the supportive team at The Fairtrade Foundation and were advised that we had now achieved enough cafes and catering establishments to meet the requirements for goal 2. The final challenge was to convert obvious interest in Fairtrade from local schools into actually using the products in school.
Early December 2005 was probably the greatest campaign highlight so far. We were privileged to be accepted to host a Fairtrade Foundation Patron Roadshow Visit. George Alagiah was accompanied by Frances Robathan (Head of Fundraising at the Fairtrade Foundation), Simeon Green MBE (Windwards Islands National Farmers Association) and Bruce Crowther (Fairtrade Town Coordinator, Fairtrade Foundation). There was a lot of media interest, interest from schools and many members of the public attended the events. Funding and sponsorship from Lloyds TSB, The Co-operative Society and KPMG helped to produce an excellent visit, which increased awareness of Fairtrade on the island a lot. This meant we could now launch a final push in the campaign to gain Fairtrade Island status with strong media support. Many more organisations, churches, schools and retailers got involved with the campaign because of this media coverage and publicity. Nearly one year after the first application, the steering group submitted again and the application for Fairtrade Island status was successful.

We were now riding on a wave of success, people were excited and there was lots of publicity. We decided to use this momentum to take us through an action packed Fairtrade Fortnight and postpone our declaration until the summer.  From a media perspective this was ideal as we had managed to agree a high profile campaign during the Fortnight with our supportive local newspaper. We were fortunate to enjoy coverage every day during the Fortnight, plus additional exposure on both radio stations and also both TV stations. A target had been agreed with the local newspaper for the total number of local registrations to be achieved by the end of the Fortnight. The target was exceeded and resulted in great media exposure, encouraging yet more organizations to register as part of the Fairtrade Island campaign. Our local website acted as a “score card” with each new confirmation of support being listed.
Sir de Vic Carey, retired Bailiff of Guernsey and Patron of our local group, expressed his delight and appreciation for the efforts of islanders. The Declaration of Fairtrade Island Status took place in June 2006 with a variety of events, including a high profile ceremony in the island’s new court buildings, attended by Simeon Greene MBE. Large signage promoting our Fairtrade Island status was also achieved in the arrivals hall at both the airport and harbor so visitors to Guernsey know they are arriving in a Fairtrade Island.
We had successfully faced the challenges of meeting the 5 goals and it was thanks to a local Steering Group full of ideas, commitment and connections that the support of islanders was able to be tapped in what was a relatively short time.

We began planning activity for Fairtrade Fortnight 2007 in the Bailiwick of Guernsey in November 2006. A key element was applying for a visit by a Fairtrade Producer on a Fairtrade Foundation Producer Tour. We were delighted when our application proved successful and a visit to The Channel Islands was arranged.
Steering Group members with key skills were responsible for planning and directing activity so as to engage with as many of the 63,000 population as possible. Members included a Senior Public Relations Consultant, our PSHE / Citizenship Education Consultant and our BBC Local Radio Producer / Presenter. The opportunity to make use of a local Fairtrade Guide (kindly produced with the help of New Consumer) was also seized and a very readable and effective 24 page magazine resulted and 10,000 copies were hand delivered across the Bailiwick. Pre-Fairtrade Fortnight exposure encompassed newspapers, business and lifestyle magazines, radio, websites, mailings to all locally registered supporters (130+) and a Fairtrade competition for all schools on the island. Fairtrade Fortnight started with articles on 6 pages of the local newspaper and both radio stations broadcast information and interviews about Fairtrade. These high levels of activity continued throughout the Fortnight with articles in the Guernsey Press and Star every day.

The visit of Fairtrade representatives on a 3 day visit to Guernsey - Sher Ghazi, CEO of Mountain Fruits Ltd, Pakistan and Kelly Leach, Fairtrade Foundation volunteer – were important parts of our plans. Our guests visited 10 local outlets stocking Fairtrade products, giving Sher the opportunity to see where Fairtrade was sold, understand the requirements of retailers and to assess levels of competition (and opportunities) for his cooperative selling to the UK. These visits were well received by the retailers and valuable for Sher and Kelly. During the Fortnight a new local website produced by the Steering Group was launched. This helped us to communicate daily activities, news and features to a wide audience. We were very pleased that many supporting organizations, businesses and community groups decided to arrange their own events and this certainly increased awareness of Fairtrade across the community - from schools to bus drivers, from telecoms giants to cafes, from building site workers to finance institutions.
The printed media concluded this part of their Fairtrade coverage with a “wash-up” (summary) on what had been achieved during Fairtrade Fortnight 2007 in Guernsey. Nobody could have failed to notice Fairtrade, especially during Fairtrade Fortnight. Further progress had taken place since the successes of 2006. By the end of Fairtrade Fortnight 2007 180 local supporting organisations, ranging from voluntary groups to shops, offices, retailers, schools and churches had signed up to our local campaign by agreeing to use or sell Fairtrade products. This success meant that we – as a steering group – could create a new target of 200 supporting organizations to be reached in the following few months.
The Fortnight of intense media coverage is just part (albeit the most significant) of our ongoing promotional plans. We manage to encourage events and activities throughout the year which ensures that Fairtrade - what it stands for and how islanders can support - is regularly featured in the media.
The impact and success of Fairtrade in Guernsey is most definitely down to an enthusiastic team of hardworking supporters, especially in the areas of education and media. Being able to harness these skills enables us to get to work with key influencers and helps to drive the initiative forward. Guernsey was surprised (and pleased!) to win the National Fairtrade Fortnight Award for “Winner Outstanding Achievement” in 2006 and as “Runner-Up – Media (Town/City)” in 2007. Recognition is nice and is shared with the entire community and encourages us to maintain our efforts.