I’ve been the South West’s representative on the Campaigner Advisory Group (CAG) since it was formed in 2010. It was set up to meet four times a year for two years, and 11^th April 2012 was the eighth meeting.
 It was a real landmark because we are now well into the process of becoming a National Campaigner Committee (NCC), and a real success for the CAG because throughout the past two years we have established the value of this kind of campaigner input to the Fairtrade Foundation and the movement generally.
 Members of the new Committee will be elected at campaigner/supporter days in the twelve regions of the UK, six in 2012 and six in 2013.This will allow a period of overlap with CAG members so that the learning and development that have taken place within the group can be passed on. Nevertheless the NCC will be very different, starting with election by other campaigners instead of selection by the Foundation, and a remit that is more about being an equal partner in the Foundation than a consultative group.It will be a member organisation of the Foundation, bringing in a campaigner and grassroots perspective and supporting the future of the campaigns movement. It will have the same rights as other member organisations to nominate and elect suitable candidates for positions on the Board of the Foundation.
 
Just after the CAG was formed we were invited to the 2010 AGM. I was interested in the individual contributions from Board members, where people talked about their own campaigning work in their organisations, but a bit overwhelmed by the Board itself because it consists of representatives of so many major NGO’s.CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Traidcraft, World Development Movement, and the National Federation of Women’s Institutes are founder members from when the Foundation was established in 1992. They have since been joined by Banana Link, Methodist Relief and Development Fund, Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, People & Planet, SCIAF, Shared Interest Foundation, Soroptimist International, Tearfund and the United Reformed Church.We were there as listeners and newcomers, so it was something new for all of us. By the next AGM in 2011 Joe Human, the first chairperson of the CAG, had just joined the Board as campaigner representative, and the whole atmosphere felt to me that our role was welcome and better understood. A lot had happened during the year to increase campaigner and producer involvement in the Foundation, such as the supporter consultation with groups around the country leading to the consensus to form the NCC, with a place on the Board. On the producer side, networks in Africa, Asia and Latin America were beginning to have a much more powerful voice in the UK and in the international Fairtrade Labelling Organisation, showing that Fairtrade continues to be a dynamic movement for global equality. I’ve found being part of the CAG an exciting experience. There are ten members from around England, Scotland and Wales, and between us we represent a mix of small towns, bigger areas and cities.Early on we each presented what we do to Foundation staff and volunteers, bringing them a new perspective because between us we know about being one or two people selling Fairtrade at churches and stalls, or part of a small handful in a town, village or school, or running a small Fairtrade business. A lot of people at the Foundation haven’t come into the movement this way, and they were fascinated by what we had to say.
 
It is hard to summarise all the eight meeting days, but some topics we have influenced are:
 
·Change of Goal 2 from emphasis on listings to Action Plan, doing trials of the change and giving feedback. ·Debate about renewals and when towns become inactive, which led us to think more deeply about the dynamics of local campaigns and what happens when steering groups dwindle or say they have done all they can. Personally I think they need a dignified way to withdraw, and then time and support to allow others to come along.
 
·The future of Fairtrade Fortnight and spreading activity out throughout the year. We understand the value of using other events such as Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, Pancake Day, summer festivals and Christmas, but we want to maintain the importance of Fortnight as a tradition campaigners are committed to, and which is embedded in a lot of town’s calendars.
 
·Giving feedback on Fairtrade Fortnight materials, and trying out new templates such as Fairtrade Town sticker.It was very rewarding to have seen the development of the hugely successful cotton bunting action in 2011, and actually witnessed some of the enormous lengths of bunting received at the Foundation!
 
·How campaigners can support core Fairtrade organisations aiming to permanently change the terms of trade, such as Traidcraft and Divine Chocolate, who are facing increased competition from supermarkets. This is a complex and on-going debate, balancing trade justice and doing trade differently with much needed growth of sales in the mainstream. Campaigners are on the front line of debating this with the public and there are no easy answers. The discussion continued at the Supporter Conference last October, and in the strategy for 2012.  

·We are consulted on media strategy and campaigns we think have worked well/not so well.We also get news about new products such as gold, beans and seafood, and we tasted the first ever Fairtrade maltesers!  

·Talking about the CAG and facilitating discussion sessions at the Supporter Conference in Birmingham last year.  

The latest meeting was in April 2012 (open attachment below for full minutes), and included agreeing the twelve proposed regional networks and Terms of Reference for the NCC.Since the first meeting we have definitely developed as a cohesive group, not only a collection of individuals, and made our voice stronger.At the beginning we listened a lot to Foundation staff, now we have an equal dialogue, and this is a good place to take off from to form the NCC.   We debated the latest news about strategy, sales, consumer research, the new access fund for producers, Fortnight (they need us to register more steps) and World Fairtrade Day.We told them not to expect campaigners to immediately leap into ordering resources for WFD as soon as Fortnight is over – they need a break!The Schools team joined us in response to requests from several members to know more about their work and there was a lively debate about nurseries, resulting in a vote to recommend the Foundation explore ways of giving them formal recognition but not include them in the Schools certification scheme.
 
The South West regional day will be on 22^nd September in Exeter, with a lot of lively and interesting topics, and voting for the NCC representative, so keep at eye on this date. 

Vivienne Kynaston, SW rep, CAG
     
open attachment

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