In Kirkwall and Stromness local businesses are participating  in Fair Trade Fortnight, more about which can be found in “Come on in”: Fairtrade Fortnight.

For its part Orkney Islands Council has a display of postcards in the foyer of the Council Offices, Kirkwall.

The images are from all around the world promoting the Fair Trade message. The Exhibition is a result of Orkney Fair Trade Group’s participation in an international postcard exchange organised by four Fairtrade towns in the Belgian region of Turnhout.

Towns, cities and regions from as far apart as India and Paraguay, Ghana and Sweden, sent out postcard images of events and information about activities they had organised;
Turnhout distributed them to all participants and sent messages of support and encouragement in reply.

Orkney’s own postcard features Council Convener Harvey Johnston and Fair Trade Group Chair Gill Smee, with group members and OIC officers, and the Buy Fair and Buy Local banner.

It’s surrounded by the messages, all carefully translated and mounted for the exhibition by OIC staff and a pupil on work experience with the Council, Chloe Mulraine. The messages include the heartening Flemish phrases “Little by Little – a little becomes a lot!”

The display will be in the Customer Services Area throughout Fairtrade Fortnight, until
Monday 12th March.

Front: Councillor Harvey Johnston, Orkney Islands Council Convener, and Gill Smee, Orkney Fair Trade Group Chair. Rear: Robert Wilson, Orkney Fair Trade Group Vice-chair, Hayley Green, OIC’s Head of IT and Facilities, Gillian Morrison, OIC’s Executive Director of Corporate Services, Rosemary Colsell, OIC’s Procurement Manager