A full day of activities for all the family at Chesham Town Hall will mark five years since the town won Fairtrade status. It is on this Saturday 27 March, starting at 10am with the cutting of the birthday cake by the Mayor, Cllr Justine Fulford. The people of Chesham are being invited to celebrate the positive difference they have made in recent years by swapping to buying Fairtrade in local shops. There will be a cafe run by Cafe Africa, local produce and other stalls, children’s activities, a floating fashion show with a competition for people to find those wearing Fairtrade fashions. There will be a Fairtrade cake competition, Voice reported Calling All Cake Lovers, and you can taste a cake and help judge.
One of the highlights of the day (technology permitting) will be a live-link with cocoa farmers in Ghana. This has been enabled and supported by Dan Gregor, Director of Komputer Consultancy Services Ltd and Chair of Chesham Chamber of Trade & Commerce. Hannah Tricks, ex-Chesham High School student, will give a talk on her trip to Ghana, when she visited the cocoa farms and saw the difference Fairtrade is making for families, villages and whole communities. After that visitors linked to Chesham High School from Ghana, will be on line in the live link. Another highlight will be storyteller Trevor Pilling, dressed in medieval costume. He will tell stories about animals, including one about the Chesham4Fairtrade mascot, an albino gorilla. A challenges will be to come up with a good name for the gorilla. Fairtrade cookery will be demonstrated by Carol Maguire, who will be baking the birthday cake, thanks to donations from Brazil’s Cafe in market square. All the ingredients for the recipes have been provided by Chesham Waitrose. At around 2.30pm, the Reverend Colin Cartwright, Chair of Chesham4Fairtrade, is due to have his head shaved to raise money for Chesham4Fairtrade. He invites people to sponsor him when he displays the Fairtrade logo marked on the back of his head. Colin said, “I would like to thank the people of Chesham, the Town Council, the churches and faith communities, the schools and children’s centres, the shops and businesses and organisations who have taken Fairtrade to their hearts and made a difference in our world.” Cost of entry for adults is £1 and there will be gifts for children on a first come, first served basis. See previous Five Years of Fairtrade in Chesham.
