Cardiff celebrates 500 Towns for 500 Miles by Barbara Crowther

It’s 6.15 and already dark at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, the UK’s first Fairtrade capital city, when we get the call to say the 500 miles for 500 Fairtrade Towns cyclists have reached the city outskirts, and a local cyclists’ group with beautiful fairy lit bikes head off to reach them. Children grab African drums, the Wales flag and a huge Fairtrade banner and we all head out into the cold dark evening to greet the intrepid riders who have ridden the 104km leg today from Ammanford, Wales’ first Fairtrade Town back in July 2002.

It’s appropriate that Wales should host the final stage of our 500 mile odyssey. Despite having just 5% of the UK’s population, the Fair Trade Wales campaign boasts 12.5% of the UK’s Fairtrade towns, villages and cities, and almost one quarter of the UK’s Fairtrade schools. In the last week alone, two more towns have gained Fairtrade status – Prestatyn/Meliden and Blaenau Ffestiniog, who peaked just a little too soon to gain the 499th Fairtrade Town position! As well as local councils, faith groups, NGOs, schools, colleges and businesses, the campaign has been backed by the Welsh Assembly, who have partnered with the NGO TWIN to support the Gumutindo coffee growing community in Mbale, Uganda on a ground-breaking project linking both Fairtrade and action to combat climate change.



The cyclists, including Fairtrade Foundation’s John Arnold and Toby Quantrill (both with inexplicably scraped and bloody knees), arrive to African drumbeats and cheers of Croeso (welcome)! They’ve come along country roads, met Fairtrade campaigners in Swansea, and even done a Fairtrade product storecheck in the Port Talbot branch of Tesco - handing in feedback to the store manager that there were simply not enough Fairtrade products in store! NB Giving shop managers feedback is even easier if you use one of our special postcards

The moment arrives for us to connect by Skype to the 500th Town – everyone claps as on a large screen on the wall, Fairtrade Town campaign founder Bruce Crowther appears. But where is he?….. drumroll ….. Bicester! One of the UK’s fastest growing towns, this Oxfordshire community has run an amazing Fairtrade campaign over four years, even persuading Chiltern Railways to serve Fairtrade coffee and hot chocolate.

We watch as Bruce Crowther presents the Fairtrade Town award to the mayor of Bicester and talks about all the achievements of our amazing grassroots movement.

The Welsh Assembly’s Environment Minister,

Jane Davidson AM, gives a rousing speech before presenting awards and banners to children from 10 Cardiff schools who have recently achieved Fairtrade status.

A keen cyclist herself, she pays tribute to all the cyclists and organisers who have been part of the 500 mile bike ride, and says that Fairtrade is a journey, and she wants every village and town, school, faith group, university and business in Wales to join that journey.

This 500 mile journey may now have finished, but our Fairtrade journey towards a better future for growers around the world still has a long way to go!