At a meeting of the Full Council on Wednesday evening 5th December the Town Council voted unanimously to support the aims and objectives of Fairtrade.
This was in response to a request from Witney Area Fairtrade Action Group who had previously presented the Policy and Finance Committee a petition with 1,600 names requesting the council's support in making Witney a Fairtrade Town.
They were joined by young people from Base33 who have recently returned from a visit to Ghana. There they visited pineapple farms and saw the difference that Fairtrade makes to some of the poorest people .
Spokesperson for WAFTAG, Wendy Maddison said "We are pleased with the support so far, and look forward to moving on to the next stage of making Witney a Fairtrade Town. very soon, once a few misconceptions have been ironed out."
Over the last year, the group have been busy garnering support from many quarters including Churches Together in Witney, the local Farmers' Market, Base 33, Wychwood Brewery, and MP David Cameron. What is needed now is for the full Council to give whole hearted support and encourage the availability of Fairtrade coffee and tea in its meetings and offices.
Mrs Maddison said " This is an excellent way of raising the profile of the town. It is a simple request but it means a decision which could benefit some of the poorest people in the world at the same time as benefiting the people and economy of Witney."
So far 300 councils have gained fairtrade status including Abingdon, Banbury and Faringdon locally. Another 250 are working through the process.
The town mayor, Chrissie Curry said that the fact that the request for Fairtrade Town Status had not been agreed upon at this time, was not a "stonewall". One of the Town Councillors has agreed to take responsibility for this Fairtrade Town initiative subsequent to the meeting.
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