Although we’ve been established right in the centre of town for over thirty years, people often don’t know we’re there. Some people walk in and turn right around again, expecting something else, and others take a look and keep on going. But time and time again, when people come through the door of Harrogate Fair Trade Shop for the first time, they say, “oh my goodness, you have amazing things in here, and I can’t believe I’ve never been in before”.
We’re a toy shop, a gift shop, a fabulous destination for accessories, and a home of unusual and innovative homewares from around the world. Everything we sell has been carefully chosen to be contemporary, distinctive and sustainable. It is part of a reimagining of the world that values people and puts their lives and livelihoods before profit. We are proud to be a fair trade shop, a small local charity and a little business that helps people change their lives by supporting them to grow, make and sell wonderful things.
Fairness is right at the heart of our organisation – it’s why the shop was set up over thirty years ago and why we’re still here. It means putting people first, treating them with respect and giving them a chance to create a life of dignity. Our products are borne out of collaborations across continents, designs that start over here and take shape in India or Africa, and have the power to change lives and benefit communities.
The women at the Flowering Desert project in India, for example, make beautiful jewellery hand-cut out of brass. Around half of them have been referred to the project because they’ve run away from abusive home lives. They’re housed with their children, provided with support and trained in the art of jewellery making. Alongside local women, who provide a sense of stability and normality at the centre, they make fabulous jewellery designed by Just Trade in London. The women gain confidence, self-respect and a meaningful way of earning a living. How many people can say their jewellery does that?
Or take Cards From Africa, a project set up to provide work for orphans in Rwanda. The genocide 25 years ago and the devastating effects of AIDS left many young people traumatised, without families and in desperate need of support. As children, they need love and care, and as adults, they need a means of earning a living whilst still being in a supportive environment. Together they make beautiful cards, hand made using waste office paper, with cheerful, vibrant designs. The simple act of buying a card can make so much difference.
The people who make the things we buy in this country are often at the mercy of the world trading system. They often need to take out loans to purchase materials upfront, which plunges them into debt, and they are subject to fluctuations in the market and buyers who haggle on price. When things go wrong – an illness in the family or a natural disaster they can be ruined and the whole community out of work.
The fair trade world does things differently. One of our biggest sellers is our wonderful wooden toys from Lanka Kade, set up 25 years ago to maintain and develop local craft skills in Sri Lanka and help them find a market for their products overseas. By providing stable and secure work, they have supported and transformed local communities. Interest-free loans have allowed producers to improve the tools they use, increasing capacity and allowing them to grow their workforce. An educational fund provides milk and school books for children to give them an education and a better start in life. As one community becomes independent and can support their own schools, the benefit spreads to other areas.
Fairness also means saving the one beautiful planet we live on. Lanka Kade uses renewable energy sources, replacing plastic with paper offcuts for packaging and minimising shipping frequency. The rubberwood that makes the toys is natural wastage from rubber plantations, as trees are cut down when they no longer produce latex to make way for new saplings. Even offcuts can be turned into the smallest animals in the collection, while sawdust provides farmers with growing material.
Since we started stocking Lanka Kade toys at Harrogate Fairtrade Shop, they have been a magnet for children and adults alike. We stock dozens of animals perfectly sized for little hands – from farmyard to safari, from sea creatures to birds, insects and even dinosaurs. There’s room for a whole menagerie in our beautiful Noah’s ark. Jigsaws, push along toys, skipping ropes, spinning tops and building blocks are also in our collection, all decorated with colourful non-toxic paints and providing hours of fun and learning.
So when you’re next in the centre of town, and you pass that little shop in the porch of St Peter’s Church, pop in and have a look. Everything we sell at Harrogate Fair Trade Shop has a story behind it, and when you buy something from us, you become part of that story too.
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