Kilbarchan curried Fairtrade flavour at a special evening organised by the local Fairtrade group.

Around 30 people attended Bobbins tea room to enjoy a Fairtrade curry made by Chef Carole Seeth, who co-owns the premise.

Many of the Fairtrade groups have been celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight with events in their own towns and villages.

A lucky few even had a visit from Ismael Diaz Rivas, a Fairtrade coffee and honey farmer from Guatemala, who visited Renfrewshire for the first week of Fairtrade Fortnight.

Ismael even managed to squeeze in a trip to local beekeepers in Kilbarchan to find out what techniques they used to collect honey and tell his story of how the honey cooperative CIPAC formed in Guatemala.

Councillor Jim Sharkey, Chair of Renfrewshire Fairtrade Steering Group, said “It has been brilliant to see so many local community groups engaging with Fairtrade Fortnight. It is such an important cause and buying Fairtrade makes a real difference to the lives of Fairtrade farmers.

“Having Ismael here to talk to some of our community groups has been a real honour and it has been a great experience for everyone to hear firsthand how the work they do benefits Fairtrade farmers.”

Graham Batin, Chair of Kilbarchan Fairtrade Partnership, said: “The curry night was a great success and I know everyone really enjoyed it. It just goes to show there are so many foods than can be made using Fairtrade ingredients.

“Although Ismael never got to come along to our night, I know both the community groups and Ismael really enjoyed the visit to Renfrewshire. It has really inspired us to keep up the work we are doing for Fairtrade. We hope these events have helped to raise awareness of the importance of buying Fairtrade.

“We are very lucky to be able to work with local businesses like Bobbins and the Co-op in Kilbarchan who kindly donated the Fairtrade wine for the evening.”

For more information, visit www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/fairtrade.

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Founder of Paisley.org.uk in 1998 and constantly strives to change peoples attitudes to the town, Brian is a self described Paisley Digital Champion who promotes Paisley via any means necessary. You can also follow me on X