Fairmined gold

It's great to see that the Fairtrade movement has now managed to get a standard for gold, called Fairmined. As well as offering a fair price to small scale miners, the certification requires that the extraction of the gold is done without toxic chemicals (such as cyanide and mercury) and with a regard for the environment.

It is estimated that 100 million people depend on small scale mining, but they find it hard to get a fair price on the open market.

The good news is that the royal jewellers, Garrard, have already indicated that they wish to use Bolivian Fairmined gold.

Anti-Apartheid Movement logo

It's not the first time that the sourcing of gold has been used as a way of achieving greater justice. In 1991, we bought a wedding ring for me from Traidcraft, who offered rings made entirely free from South African gold. The negotiations for transition from white minority government to democracy were underway, and this was a small gesture to maintain pressure. It also  gave other gold producers a place in a market dominated by South Africa. As well as the usual hallmarks, my ring has the anti-apartheid logo stamped into the metal. A reminder of very different times

Thankfully that era is over, but a fair deal for small, responsible producers and the campaign to stop "dirty mining" are still greatly needed.

Related articles

• Fairtrade hallmark sets the gold standard (guardian.co.uk)
• Fairtrade gold in pictures (telegraph.co.uk)
• Fairtrade gold to protect miners (independent.co.uk)

A Fairtrade Olympics?

I have just done my bit, (using the Tear Fund Superbadger facility on facebook) to add my voice to the call for a Fairtrade Olympics in 2012. It's a fantastic opportunity for the UK Olympics to have a distinctive identity. We can't do bigger and better than Beijing, but it would be very easy to build in aspects of the celebrations that have a real benefit for the poorest communities of the world, as well as being a huge global advert for Fairtrade.

So, if you would like to see Fairtrade coffee, cotton, footballs and more in use at 2012, why not join in?

Café Create North

We're planning towards a Café Create northern version, inspired by our friends at St Paul's Leamington. It all feels a bit nervy, and I'm fearing making a huge financial loss, but I'm sure it will be fine, really. Here's the first poster

Lent Blog: Day 8

If you just want to view Lent posts, click Lent under the labels heading in the right-hand side-bar

Sorry nothing happened yesterday. Well, quite a bit happened yesterday, actually. We completed the Fairtrade College application, and held a meeting for local ministers and chaplains. In the evening I also got the Lancaster version of Cafe Create publicity organised (more on that elsewhere). Sadly, I didn't get to the blog until now, so apologies for the silence.

Periods of silence can be strange. I have good friends I don't actively communicate with for months on end, and it's absolutely fine when we do get in touch. With other people, a week can induce huge amounts of guilt. Yet the degree of guilt and the closeness of the relationship don't necessarily tally. The factors in that can vary, from the needs of someone in a pastoral relationship to the degree of security in the friendship, or whether there are things that need to be worked through.

In a relationship with God, silence can work both ways, too. Lack of prayer can mean alienation, but silent prayer can be very profound communication. Sometimes God seems silent, and we have to learn while we are waiting; sometimes we don't know what to say, and we have to let our silence speak for itself.