The aim was to highlight the way our purchases of tea on fair trade terms is improving life for the tea pickers and their families.
Using an exercise bike, and allowing one mile cycled to 25 miles on the map, we hoped we'd cover the 4759 miles to Kibena by the time the festival closed on Monday evening.
But we hadn't allowed for the enthusiasm and energy of the hundreds of supporters who not only got us there – but cycled all the way back as well.
Tots, teens (even the occasional triathelete) joined mums, dads and ladies of a certain maturity, to cycle 380 miles – the equivalent of more than 9,500 miles on the map – in little more than 30 hours.
"They were absolutely fantastic," said Jane Riley, who led the Traidcraft team at Greenbelt. "Young, old, fit or not, everyone wanted to help."
"To give it some perspective: we drove just over 260 miles from our Tyneside headquarters to get to Cheltenham; our supporters cycled almost half as much again.
"To get there was great but to cover the same distance on the return leg was truly magnificent and a great testimonial to the determination and enthusiasm of everyone involved to make trade work for the poor."
We also collected hundreds more signatures for our campaigns calling for better deals for supermarket suppliers, and a halt to attempts by the European Commission to force developing countries to sign damaging bi-lateral trade deals.
You can add your support by contacting your MP too.
Quiz results
Congratulations to all our winners. Details are below.
Winner of Fairtrade Hamper: Rachel Webb, Bristol
Winners of complete the sentence competition:
- Rob Wylie, North Shields
- Wendy Cocks, Liverpool
- Holly Richards, Cheltenham
- Elizabeth Powell, Leeds
- Meg Reynolds, London
For answers to the Teatime Teazer quiz, click here.
Photos from the event
