Exeter City Football Club will be working hard to promote both Fairtrade Fortnight and the importance of recycling at their match against Altrincham on Saturday 1 March.The players will be wearing Fairtrade T-Shirts prior to the match and will kick ten signed Fairtrade footballs, courtesy of The Co-operative Group, into the crowd. The club also sells Fairtrade drinks and snacks in their match day catering and conference facilities.
In addition City Council recycling officers will be offering advice on recycling and giving away My Green Bag jute bags. The City Council has recently been working with Exeter City's club management, advising on a number of environmental issues, including the best way for the club to recycle its waste and save money. Sponsorship for Saturday's match is being provided by Perry's Recycling, who have also been working with the City Council.
Exeter's Lord Mayor will also be attending to show her support for both important initiatives.
Cllr Greg Sheldon, Lead Councillor for Economy and Tourism said: ". We are delighted that Exeter City Football Club are helping to promote both the importance of recycling and also Fairtrade Fortnight.
The production of footballs is a good example of how the Fairtrade system can make a difference - to make a football requires around 690 stitches, which means an experienced stitcher can only make three to five balls per day.
This greatly limits the amount of money they can earn. However, under the Fairtrade system, workers receive a wage which is around 50% higher than the usual pay rate, making a huge difference to their earning ability."
Now let us just hope that other football clubs and sporting venues, such as race courses, etc. take a leaf out of Exeter City FC's book and follow suit, and NOT ONLY for Fairtrade Fortnight. Fairtrade coffee and tea, hot chocolate, chocolates and other goods, should be and become the standard at all venues of that nature and also at all town halls and government offices. It is time, especially, that the likes of local governments, as well as central government put their money where their mouths are in regards to Fairtrade and environmental issues. In most case, however, including the Mayor of London, it would appear to be a case of “do as I say but not as I do”.
© Michael Smith (Veshengro), March 2008
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