Church minister has fairtrade hopes for Glasgow's Southside

A Church of Scotland minister is backing a campaign to make part of Glasgow’s Southside a fairtrade town.

The Rev Alistair May, minister at Stonelaw Church, wants to encourage the Rutherglen community to use fairtrade products so they can help disadvantaged farmers and workers in countries such as Kenya.

Fairtrade helps producers of food and beverages in the developing world receive a fair share of their trade.

Stonelaw Church’s “Meeting Place” cafe is run by volunteers and offers free cups of fairtrade tea and coffee, as well as a small food produce shop.

The church cafe celebrates its fifth anniversary of ethical trading and Rev May is hoping that public demand will lead more supermarkets and shops in the area to also begin stocking these goods.

He said: “I would like people to stop and think about what they’re buying, as often the cheapest option isn’t the fairest”.