Urchin is committed to supporting small UK producers and, on a global scale, sourcing Fair trade, environmentally sustainable or ethically produced goods wherever possible. We are proud to say that we are selling more of these products than ever before. We’d like to give you a little background on some of our favourite Fair trade products and the suppliers from whom we obtain such lovely goods.

What does fair trade mean?

The international federation of alternative trade define fair trade as "a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights or, marginalised producers and workers."

We support a Fair trade women's co-operative in Bangladesh to design and produce our own exclusive range

Urchin's supplier of Fair-trade products is a non-profit organisation in Bangladesh. The company is a recognised member of the Ecota Fair Trade Forum which is a member of IFAT. All the goods they make are handcrafted (crochet, knitted, embroidered and applique) in Bangladesh and their aim, through fair trade, is to provide flexible, local employment, particularly in rural areas, and keep alive traditional crafts which may otherwise run the risk of being lost. All workers involved in the making and packing of their products are treated with respect, paid fair wages and are ensured a reasonable working environment. All goods and techniques employed are environmentally friendly and there is no child labour.

Currently they have almost 300 women working both full time and part time in three centres - one in Dhaka and two in rural locations. In Dhaka they have a production, training and finishing centre and employ young women - endeavouring to provide an alternative to the garment factories where most young women are forced to work. The women at this centre come mostly from the ‘bosti’ – a Bangladeshi word referring to a tin house with mud floor and without sanitation or running water – the poorest in society in Dhaka. Here is what they do for these women:

• Offer training in hand knitting and hand stitching skills and then employ them in this centre based close to where they live.
  
• Provide lunch for these women every day and give them use of the shower facilities at the centre.
  
• Offer them career opportunities in terms of promotion through a series of supervisory and management roles and hope to delay early marriage and teenage childbirth through aspiration to these positions.
  
• Offer free computer training during the working day for women who have reached SSC level education.
  
• Offer flexible working times for women who wish to pursue literacy courses and further education.
  
• A medical doctor offers free treatment to the women when they are ill.
  
• Offer training and working opportunities to disabled women and have successfully trained women to stitch with their left hand where they have a disability with their right hand and have also trained and employ deaf and dumb women in hand knitting.

In the rural area they have centres that try to accommodate the needs of mothers with young children. They believe that mothers and nursing infants should not be separated by the need to work and as such they provide work in the home for these women in the rural locations. Their aim, in time, is to develop community midwifery facilities in these locations to try to help stem the high rates of infant and mother morbidity in childbirth. All training in all locations is offered free of charge and as they continue to expand, they are attracting interest from International Aid Organisations who recognise the work they are doing with the women in Bangladesh.

Browse Urchin's Fair trade range

Urchin also work with fair trade distributers including RICE, Believe you Can and Scandi- Chic.

About RICE

Why 'RICE'? Rice is a basic survival product for many people in the world especially people in the third world. RICE design and develop their own products in Denmark and produce them in the third world. Their crochet items alone assure the survival of 300 families in Madagascar. They have obtained and are overseen by an SA8000. SA8000 is based on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on the Rights of the Child and various International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. SA8000 covers the following areas of accountability:

Child labor: No workers under the age of 15; minimum lowered to 14 for countries operating under the ILO Convention.

Forced labor: No forced labor, including prison or debt bondage labor; no lodging of deposits or identity papers by employers or outside recruiters

Workplace safety and health: Provide a safe and healthy work environment; take steps to prevent injuries; regular health and safety worker training; system to detect threats to health and safety; access to bathrooms and potable water

Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining: Respect the right to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively; where law prohibits these freedoms, facilitate parallel means of association and bargaining

Discrimination: No discrimination based on race, caste, origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union or political affiliation, or age; no sexual harassment

Discipline: No corporal punishment, mental or physical coercion or verbal abuse

Working hours: Comply with the applicable law but, in any event, no more than 48 hours per week with at least one day off for every seven day period; voluntary overtime paid at a premium rate and not to exceed 12 hours per week on a regular basis; overtime may be mandatory if part of a collective bargaining agreement

Remuneration: Wages paid for a standard work week must meet the legal and industry standards and be sufficient to meet the basic need of workers and their families; no disciplinary deductions

Management system for Human Resources: Facilities seeking to gain and maintain certification must go beyond simple compliance to integrate the standard into their management systems and practices.

About Believe you Can

Believe you Can exclusively design their range in England and have it hand-made by IFAT approved fair trade producers in India.

Over 40% of their producers profits go to support local community welfare projects including;

Education; Teddy School and Nursery has 400 children across 8 year groups. Special needs. Evening classes with Free books, evening meals and transports.

Free Creche; Enabling mothers to breast feed their babies during the day.

Community Health; Free treatment to STD patients. Dental surgery.
Accident relief (there are no public emergency services), AIDS awareness project.

Veterinary and Environmental Projects; Veterinary care for farmers and villagers; foot and mouth, worming, infertility.

Certified Timber; Teddy export initiative to achieve FSC certification. Established tree plantations.