At last week’s council meeting it was agreed that permission should be given Pocklington’s ‘Fairtrade and Local Produce Action Group’ (FLAG) to install new Fairtrade Town signs alongside the town council noticeboards in George Street and Market Place (adjacent to ‘I Love Zero’).

While some residents will be well aware that Pocklington is a Fairtrade Town, and have some understanding of what this means, part of the point of having the signs is to get people asking questions.

The signs will be paid for by the group.

The designation ‘Fairtrade Town’ indicates that a significant number of businesses, retail outlets, churches and schools use or sell fairly traded items, or promote fair trade in some way. There is also a requirement that a steering group actively seeks to promote fair trade in the community.

Pocklingtons Fairtrade status was recognised in 2009 and must be renewed every two years, at which point the group has to submit an application to the Fairtrade Foundation detailing our activities and achievements (some of which are recorded on our website). One of the goals in the current two-year period is to make a fresh audit of retailers that sell fairtrade items.

The Pocklington group is currently quite small and so they are trying to recruit new members with an interest in Fairtrade. If you are interested e mail chair Judith Micklem at [email protected]