John’s JWS is currently a member of two fair trade steering groups – Durham City group and St John’s College group.

The Durham City group is chaired by Kathryn Sygrove, who works for Durham City council (kathrynsygrove@oink.co.uk). This group is comprised of college and university representatives, members of the council, local churches and interested members of the public. It was formed to work towards acquiring Fair Trade City Status for Durham City, and since this was achieved in May 2007, now works to maintain this status and keep fair trade values present in the city. It meets once or twice a term, and is a great way of keeping informed of what’s going on with Fairtrade in the city, the churches, and in the University in general too.

St John’s College steering group is chaired by Gavin Wakefield (gavin.wakefield@durham.ac.uk), the Deputy Warden of Cranmer Hall, and is working towards gaining Fair Trade status for John’s as an independent college.

Some handy links:
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/
http://www.durhamcityfairtradepartnership.com/