The current retail recession in Britain has been the worst since before World War II – surviving on the high street is not easy. In Fair Trade we pay our producers decent prices, making it very difficult to compete with those who buy, for instance, from factories in the Far East.

Shared Earth’s sales have dropped so much over the last two years that it has become impossible to continue as we are. Only two of our seven shops are still profitable (York and Liverpool) and in summer 2012 Shared Earth Ltd entered a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) to pay its debts. Following a poor Christmas, we had no alternative but to put SE Ltd into voluntary liquidation.

This is a bitter pill to swallow; some of our shops have been open for more than 20 years. Fortunately, in addition to York, we have managed to save three shops. In Liverpool our landlord immediately agreed to a new lease, and in Leeds and Cardiff, our landlords have agreed to substantially reduced rents, which should bring these shops back into profit in the coming year.

Our current level of 7 shops will therefore reduce to 4. Wholesale sales will continue as normal, so the impact on producers, in terms of keeping up orders, should not be too great. We have done our best to ensure that post-CVA producers’ invoices, for goods which have not yet been despatched, will be paid by Shared Earth UK Ltd before the end of January).

We are deeply sorry that we have had to close our shops in Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol, but for Shared Earth to continue at all, this was unfortunately necessary. We are sorry both for our staff who have lost their jobs and for customers who will miss us.

As founder and MD of Shared Earth I always try to be positive, and despite these closures, I give thanks that we are continuing at all. We aim to continue to do our very best for our producers, and also for our staff and customers.

Jeremy Piercy

Apologies to our regular customers, and thank you to everyone who has supported us.

Please continue to buy from us by using our online shop www.sharedearth.co.uk or visit one of our other shops – details are here.

Mathare, Nairobi’s second largest slum, until recently had a crime rate of 80%. With no work or schooling and nothing to do except hang around street corners, most young people get involved in theft, drugs and prostitution, usually around the age of 13 or 14. Murder is common and HIV/AIDS is rampant.

A fantastic project has been set up by local people to change all this. Its aim is to engage the youth in activities, provide work and train them to earn for themselves, rehabilitate drug users, prostitutes and criminals and encourage young people to take a full part in society. Already, with community policing by ex-gangsters, they claim to have reduced the crime rate from 80% to just 5%.

Read more at www.walkagainstcrime.org

These products are from the pastel brights range of knitwear developed with Tejemujeres in Equador – Tejemujeres is a co-operative of about 100 women, often main earners who Work to improve the lives of their family and community.
Natural wool, alpaca and cotton

Noah’s Ark is a Social Entrepreneur who is published by “Business Outlook” this September. They have selected only 25 businesses across India, & Noah’s Ark is selected for its Social Activities & Business Structure.

“The business was started from nothing. I worked from one room of my house. We started with the help of some artisans.” Samuel Masih, Founder and CEO, Noah’s Ark

Read the article here

Aieselukharka is a border village in Nepal with no road service or electricity, however it’s central Bazaar houses a development committee, which serves 9 surrounding villages where currently 36,000 residents are living. Before Folk Nepal established the medical camp these families were completely cut off from any health services.

This is a great achievement for Folk Nepal with the dental clinic being rated as one of the top 20 in the country, readied with the latest equipment, some of which arrived by helicopter due to the lack of drivable terrain.

As well as health care the camp is an opportunity for employment, with Folk Nepal initiating training in jobs such as hygienists and support workers.

We are very pleased to hear about this valuable project Folk Nepal have undertaken. They have faced the difficulties of such a venture with a positive spirit which we’re sure will continue to reap success.