Keswick is a small and thriving market town in the northern Lake District, whose size (less than 5000 residents) belies its importance as a major tourist centre. It has been designated as a Beacon Town within the Market Towns Initiative for its good governance, its pioneering spirit and its willingness to provide examples of good practice in examining and tackling the challenges facing a small market town.
   Keswick and District Fair Trade Campaign is a project within this initiative. In 2005 Keswick was awarded BIDs (Business Improvement District status), in recognition of its many qualities. This will draw in grants and other financial support to improve the town.
   Keswick is said to have the highest density of accommodation in the country with 30,000 beds. As Fairtrade promoters it is not so much the beds which interest us as the breakfasts! We have, therefore, focused much of our work on the tourist sector because of its huge 'multiplier' potential. To date there are over 70 hotels, guest houses, B & Bs and hostels and almost 30 cafés, coffee shops and restaurants offering Fairtrade tea and coffee to their guests and customers in and around the town, and more than 12 shops selling Fairtrade and other fairly traded products. The town is becoming known as a place where Fairtrade is widely available, and where many establishments see their principled support for Fairtrade as being good for business. As a result, it is now difficult for visitors to miss Fairtrade in Keswick.
   There is an excellent Keswick Tourism Association, of which we are a member, and with whom we have worked closely to establish minimum standards for 'flagging' Fairtrade providers. These are now indicated on their website (www.keswick.org) and in their brochure with an FT. These standards are now being adopted by other tourist towns in the county and by Cumbria Tourism.
   Keswick's Theatre by the Lake is one of the most successful regional theatres in the country. It is also a 'flagship' Fairtrade provider in Keswick, with an excellent café and bars which provide a range of Fairtrade drinks and snacks.
   Keswick has won many awards in the Cumbria in Bloom and Britain in Bloom competitions. In 2005 the gardeners laid out a lovely Fairtrade flower bed in Hope Park (see picture).
   All local providers of Fairtrade and other fairly traded products are listed in our Directory, which is available from The Tourist Information Centre at the Moot Hall, Theatre by the Lake, Oxfam and the Library. This information is also available on our regularly updated website, at www.fairtradekeswick.org.uk. Both also list all local organisations which support Fairtrade.

Our campaign was launched in June, 2003, having been conceived within Keswick Fair World Group, which itself was part of Churches Together. Serious, systematic campaigning began in December 2003 with a free Christmas lunch for people in the accommodation sector.
We believe:

• that global poverty can be significantly reduced by making the world's trading systems fairer to producers in developing countries.

We are committed to:

• promoting the buying, selling, serving and use of Fairtrade and other recognised fairly traded products in and around Keswick;
• lobbying the Government, international institutions and the corporate sector to play their part in making the world's trading systems fairer for poor and marginalised producers in developing countries.

We are working locally to:

• encourage shops to stock Fairtrade and other recognised fairly traded products;
• encourage hotels, hostels, guest houses, B & Bs, coffee and tea shops, cafés and restaurants to serve Fairtrade beverages to their guests and customers;
• encourage churches, community groups, clubs and societies, schools, businesses, families and individuals to buy and use Fairtrade and other recognised fairly traded products;
• raise the awareness of our members and the wider public of Trade Justice issues.

We achieved Fairtrade status for Keswick on 11th January, 2005, the fifth place in Cumbria to receive it. The award was presented by Tadesse Meskela, of the Ethiopian Oromia Coffee Farmers' Cooperative Union on 8th March, 2005, at a special ceremony at Theatre by the Lake, where he drank his own Fairtrade coffee from Ethiopia, which is served in the Theatre café!
   We have stalls in the market, and at Keswick Agricultural Show. We hold coffee mornings. We work in local schools. We work through local churches. We place articles regularly in our local press. We have special activities at Christmas to promote the awareness of Fairtrade.
   We have always seen the promotion of Fairtrade and other fairly traded products within the wider Trade Justice context. Our lobbying group, which merged with Keswick's MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign in 2006, meets regularly with and writes to our MP, to Government ministers, to the EU Commission, to the corporate sector and to other key players in the world's trading systems. Hence, we are a Fair Trade Campaign, which promotes Fairtrade and other fairly traded products, together with Trade Justice.
   We have a membership of about 300, with whom we keep in contact through regular newsletters and other mailings. Our committee of 10 to 12 core activists meets every week, and for events we call upon another 20 - 30 supporters. Our lobbying group meets once a month. About 40% of our funds come from our members' annual subscriptions, the rest from grants, gifts and fundraising events.

In the last two years we have developed a link with the coffee farming community of Choche in Oromia, Ethiopia, who sell into the Fairtrade market. Choche is the legendary 'birthplace of coffee' (as Keswick is the 'birthplace of pencils'!). Through three visits to Choche, we have begun to build friendships, and have learned much about the impact of Fairtrade on the lives of farmers and their families, and on the whole community. (See picture). Through talks to local groups and to schools in and around Keswick we can now tell the stories about this impact. Meanwhile we promote and sell Fairtrade organic Oromia coffee from Yirgacheffe in Southern Ethiopia.

We have just had another very successful Fairtrade Fortnight, packed with activities. Throughout it we 'ran' the second Keswick Coffee Marathon. No! Not a 26 mile run, but a two week 'Café Crawl'. Its aim was to encourage people to drink at as many of our coffee shops and cafés offering Fairtrade as possible. And many did!
   Jose Peralta, Fairtrade banana producer, spoke at a public meeting about the impact of Fairtrade on the lives of people in the Dominican Republic, where he is President of ASOBANU, a banana famers' association. Next morning we took Jose to Booths, our local supermarket, which sells bananas from the Dominican Republic to meet Ian Gardiner, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Manager. On finding a box stamped with the ASOBANU code, Jose declared: 'This has been the highlight of my visit to Britain!' To this Ian responded, 'And you have made my week!'
   In the middle of the Fortnight, the 'Wine Rack', Threshers' off-license in the Market Place, put on another successful Fairtrade Wine Tasting.
   Following the publication of her book, Fighting the Banana Wars and Other Fairtrade Battles, Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, spoke at the Words by the Water, our local literary festival, in the second week of Fairtrade Fortnight, to an audience of knowledgeable and committed campaigners, as well as many others. One of the festival's regulars commented: 'That was the best talk I have heard so far.' Harriet is an outstanding speaker, who weaves Fairtrade stories into big picture Trade Justice scenarios with great skill and passion.
   The morning after Harriet's talk the committee met her over breakfast at the Wild Strawberry, where we talked about the Foundation's vision for Fairtrade over the next five years.
   There followed a Reception with Harriet Lamb for Keswick and Cumbrian campaigners at the Skiddaw Hotel. Warmly welcomed by the Mayor, Roger Purkiss, Harriet praised the people of Keswick and Cumbria for their enormous contribution to Fairtrade, spectacularly in the case of Keswick within the tourism sector.
   After speaking to the whole gathering, Harriet signed copies of her book, and spent time talking individually to guests and supporters , who included students from St. Joseph's, Workington, St. Benedict's, Whitehaven, Cockermouth School, and Ullswater College. In all four of these there are strong Fairtrade groups, and two, St. Joseph's and Ullswater College, are already official Fairtrade Schools.

Joe Human, Secretary, Keswick and District Fair Trade Campaign, 017687 80047,
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82 Blencathra Street, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 4HY