Some 1,000 North Easterners are expected to come along to treat themselves to a free cup of Traidcraft’s Fairtrade tea and a pack of Fairtrade biscuits while enjoying a variety of dance performances from breakdancing to Zumba and Irish dancing to Capoeira.
Celebrity guest, John Middleton, who plays Ashley Thomas the vicar from the popular soap opera Emmerdale, will kick off the event.
Included in the dancing will be local breakdancing act John and Soner who will soon be heading off to London to participate in the Britain's Got Talent finals. Tea drinkers will also be given the opportunity to show off their ballroom dancing skills from 3:30-4:00pm on the day.
In line with this year’s theme of ‘The Big Swap’ – which encourages consumers to swap their regular item for a Fairtrade item – the first 200 people who bring along a box of non-Fairtrade tea will be given the chance to swap it for a box of Traidcraft’s Fairtrade tea, which is sourced from small-scale tea producers in Africa and India and is produced with nationally renowned tea blenders Ringtons from Newcastle.
Organised by Newcastle City Council and sponsored by Traidcraft, the leading fair trade organisation, the tea dance will highlight the issues faced by some of the 20 million tea producers in the developing world who grow and pick the green leaf used in some of the 165 million cups of tea consumed daily in the UK. Issues like low prices and poor working conditions, which Traidcraft and its Fairtrade tea help to address.
The audience will also be able to test their Fairtrade tea knowledge in a quiz and can encourage the big five tea brands – PG Tips, Tetley, Yorkshire Tea, Twinings and Typhoo – to go Fairtrade by signing a campaign postcard.
- ends -
Notes to editors:
-
Based in the Team Valley, Gateshead, Traidcraft is the UK’s leading fair trade organisation and has been fighting poverty through trade since 1979
-
Traidcraft works to fight poverty through trade by:
-
Trading with people in Africa, Asia and South America
-
Supporting people in the developing world to build sustainable businesses
-
Influencing policy making in government and business
-
Newcastle City Council: Newcastle has been a Fairtrade City since February 2003. The Newcastle Fairtrade Partnership is the Fairtrade steering group and includes community, business and council representation. For more information contact Stella Carmichael on 0191 2116117 or 07812 975262 or email stella.carmichael@newcastle.gov.uk
-
Traidcraft supporters will be hosting 3,000 Big Brews around the country during Fairtrade Fortnight serving Fairtrade tea and coffee and collecting donations for Traidcraft’s charity work
-
For more information contact Melissa Duncan on 0191 497 6462 or 07831 576 103 or email melissad@traidcraft.co.uk
