Rainbow Turtle Fair Trade

Rainbow Turtle was set up in Paisley in 2002 by a group concerned with the promotion and development of Fair Trade. The objective was to raise public awareness of Fair Trade and encourage more people to buy fairly traded products.  Since then Rainbow Turtle has been the ‘face of Fair Trade’ in Renfrewshire. For many years now we have worked with schools, faith groups and other organisations providing talks and workshops to help educate the local community.  We are committed to using education as a means of raising awareness of fair trade and the issues surrounding it.  Knowledge is power as they say and we believe the more informed we are about the world around us, the more positive an impact we can have.

Rainbow Turtle comprises two distinct but related areas of activity:

Rainbow Turtle – trading company

The trading company supports Fair Trade sales in its shop in Paisley. The shop stocks a diverse range of goods including foodstuffs, clothing, jewellery, crafts, cards, stationery, toys, gifts and leisure items and relies on the support of its volunteers. Rainbow Turtle Just Trading Ltd is also involved in a number of other related activities:

• supplying stalls of Fair Trade products on a sale or return basis to organisations, and hosting Fair Trade stalls at events
• supplying schools in Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow and Inverclyde with fairly traded foodstuffs for tuck shops, staff rooms, coffee mornings and other special events
• supplying offices and other places of work with Fair Trade beverages and snacks for staff.

Rainbow Turtle – Charity

Rainbow Turtle is a recognised Scottish Charity committed to working in partnership with developing world producers. The charity works in several ways to enhance the profile of Fair Trade, these include:

• organising special events and fundraising throughout the year
• helping schools and organisations to take part in the annual Fairtrade Fortnight
• working with various groups to lobby both local and national politicians with a view to achieving change in the system of world trade
• directly supporting some producers in developing countries by giving financial assistance towards the purchase of raw materials and equipment, and by providing markets for the goods they produce through the shop in Paisley, stalls and online sales
• providing support and advice to schools – who are working towards their Fairtrade Awards – through our Education Officer
• giving talks and workshops to schools, faith groups and other organisations.