Wokingham

Finding your Fairtrade chocolate fix just got even easier in the Wokingham Borough. Wokingham Borough Council’s popular interactive online maps now show the locations of stores across the borough that offer Fairtrade items for sale.

The interactive maps at www.wokingham.gov.uk/maps allow visitors to look at different layers of information on the maps of their local area, including schools, local nature reserves and rubbish and recycling collection days. The newest layer is Fairtrade outlets – and it shows every shop in the borough that is listed in the Wokingham Borough Fairtrade Directory.

Researched and produced by the Wokingham Fair Trade Campaign (WFTC) the directory lists the shops and cafes in the Wokingham Borough where residents can find Fairtrade items, and also lists which products are stocked in each outlet. So whether it’s fruit, jam, biscuits or tea a shopper is looking for, they can use the council’s maps to plan their Fairtrade shopping.

WFTC directory co-ordinator Andrew Mickleburgh said: “The directory is a valuable shopping tool for anyone in the borough who likes to buy Fairtrade food. And with shoppers becoming more and more careful to make ethical choices when shopping, it is becoming a very popular little guide. It is available as a booklet from the WFTC, as a searchable database on the WFTC’s website - and now it is also on the council’s excellent interactive maps. I am delighted that the council is helping us to give shoppers this information in such a user-friendly format. It’s now even easier for shoppers in the borough to make ethical choices if they want to.”

By buying products that carry the FAIRTRADE Mark, consumers know that developing-world producers receive a fair and stable price for their produce, which covers their production costs and includes a premium to be reinvested either in the business or in social and environmental schemes among the community.

GIS technician Claire Tokeley said: “Our interactive maps are a popular tool and we are always adding to them – largely through the suggestions of our users. In response to public request, information layers recently added include civil ceremony venues, local community skips, and parish and town council offices. Showing Fairtrade outlets helps those users who are concerned about shopping ethically. I’m especially pleased that we have been able to work in partnership with a local voluntary group to provide this information.”

Wokingham Borough Council