MARLBOROUGH will welcome Joe Human, coordinator of the Cumbria Fairtrade Network, to a public meeting to discuss the benefits of being a Fairtrade town.

The meeting, open to all the community on Wednesday October 14 from 6.30pm at Marlborough Town Hall, will be an opportunity to find out more about why Fairtrade is important both for producers overseas and the town, and what collectively need to do to achieve Fairtrade status.

Representatives from local businesses and action groups, schools, churches and more will exchange experiences and explain why they support the campaign.

Guest speaker Mr Human taught for 20 years in Kenya, Papua New Guinea and England, following which he worked for Oxfam GB for 20 years. He now lives in Keswick, where until recently he was secretary of the local Fairtrade Campaign, which promotes Fairtrade in the local community and the tourist sector.

He is currently coordinator of Cumbria Fairtrade Network, an alliance of over 20 campaigning groups, of which 19 have attained Fairtrade status for their communities.

The Fairtrade system aims to ensure farmers get a fair price for their products but also an additional premium to help them invest with others in projects that can help their community, such as health clinics, schools, clear water, food processing facilities or improving access roads in their area.

Coordinator of the Fairtrade Marlborough Group Allison Burden said: “In a recent survey of 34 outlets in Marlborough, we found that just under one third stock Fairtrade goods. This is a great start but we can do more.

“We are therefore really excited to welcome Joe Human to Marlborough. We look forward to learning from his experience and increasing the number of local businesses that sell Fairtrade products and support this campaign.”