Referring to his earlier role as secretary of the Division of Education and Youth, the President recalled how 20 years ago members of Methodist youth clubs had been encouraged to campaign for fair trade.
“Now, thanks to your achievements, people have a much more obvious and on-going way of being involved. We are very committed to what you are about,” said Mr Gamble.
Earlier, Traidcraft Chief Executive Paul Chandler had told almost 100 guests at the Traidcraft-hosted lunch in Darlington Street Methodist Church, that the Methodist Church had played a vital role in Traidcraft’s success – and in making the UK the largest fair trade market in the world.
“Almost one in five of our most active supporters is in the Methodist Church; of the 5,300 churches registered with the Fairtrade Churches scheme, 22 per cent are Methodist. Given the size of the Methodist Church, I would say you are punching well above your weight,” he said.
“But with 1.4 billion people still living below the World Bank poverty level of $1 a day, the job is far from done. And that is why Traidcraft needs the support of the churches more than ever.
“Traidcraft was founded as a Christian response to poverty and we have been a prophetic voice in the world of business, bringing to the fore a Christian understanding of the true place of people within trade.
“In this anniversary year, we need to reinvigorate church support for Traidcraft’s work, so that we can continue to grow and develop our particular contribution towards the Church’s commitment to trade justice and fulfilling the Millennium Development goals,” Paul added.
Later, the 300-plus delegates to the Conference, enjoyed slices of Traidcraft cake in their tea-break to celebrate our 30th anniversary.
Use Paul’s presentation to get your church involved. You can download it from www.traidcraft.co.uk/churchresources as a PowerPoint presentation (with script) or as a PDF.
