Kick Off For Holmfirth Fair Trade Shop

Youngsters try out the fair trade footballs. (picture: The Fair Traders Co-operative)

A new fair trade co-operative opens in Holmfirth this weekend. Local people who took part in the successful campaign to keep Tesco out of the village last year are behind the shop, which will sell goods from food to clothes to gifts.

The people behind the Fair Traders Co-operative (FTC) say they want to shop to “show what kind of business we would like Holmfirth to promote, an alternative to the identikit town centres, and ‘cheap at any price’ goods on offer in so many retail chains.”

The five founder directors of the venture began offering shares in November, and reached their target of £100,000 of capital within five months. They say they have “worked hard to bring together an exciting range of goods both local and from the developing world, with fantastic stories behind them.”

One such product is the footballs you can see in the picture. According to FTC, they’re made in Sri Lanka by workers paid using something called the fair trade premium, which is an extra sum of money paid on top of the agreed price so money can be invested in local services. In this case, a medical centre has been built with the profits from sales of the balls elsewhere. And, as the World Cup begins in South Africa, £2 from the sale of each ball will go to help disadvantaged children in that country.

The store is in the Old Toll House building on Huddersfield Road, and will be open from 10am to 5pm from Wednesday to Sunday. There’s much more information at the FTC website here.

Author: Jude Gidney - Editor

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