Chamber of Trade call attention to scaffolding at Lloyds Bank John St Porthcawl

Letter from Porthcawl Chamber of Trade / SUSSED to Lloyds Bank:

Dear Sir/Madam,

re: Scaffolding around Lloyds Bank, Porthcawl CF36 3AS

I write on behalf of the Porthcawl Chamber of Trade and SUSSED Wales.

For over six months now, Porthcawl town centre has been subjected to unsightly scaffolding erected around Lloyds Bank Porthcawl branch, 49, John Street, Porthcawl CF36 3AS.

Trade particularly at the retail outlet SUSSED, 4 – 5, James St. Porthcawl CF36 3BG, since before Christmas and now, has been impeded by the dominance of this scaffolding covering the whole of the bank, directly adjacent to these premises.

Town centre shops are finally being allowed to open after a long period closed. Activity along this framework has been little and sporadic. We believe the task should have been completed during the period provided by the lockdown closure of surrounding commercial premises.

The opportunity for street stalls, activities and thus income from outside, which we would normally have, has also been lost also to the charity Sustainable Wales.

It is with dismay and disappointment that this situation continues, with no end in sight.

No-one at the bank branch has any idea when this scaffolding will be removed, though Lloyds staff members have inquired as to whether our trade is suffering because of the bank’s refurbishment.

Indeed, trade at SUSSED 4 – 5, James St., Porthcawl CF36 3BG is being seriously impeded.

They are continually asked by customers when the scaffolding will be removed.

Indeed, locals and visitors to our town centre deserve completion of the task and removal of the framework promptly.

Please provide a date for completion of the building work at the Porthcawl branch of Lloyds. The situation is urgent.

Download letter as PDF

Masks & Stock update 2 July

Mmm  More Masks

Locally made masks

 Locally-made masks arrive regularly to SUSSED.. They will be on sale on Monday - Friday between 10am – 2pm and Saturday 3.30pm

Crafted with 3 layers of cotton, styles are suitable for everyone – men’s women’s and children’s fancy and plain. Made to wash and reuse. 

Also, unused fabric donations are still welcome for the masks being made by Cwtchable Creations. Please bring when the shop is open.

Bakers

Flour has been restocked!

Don’t forget, alongside the availability of foodstuffs like organic flour, rice and pastas we sell also sell Cwtchable Creations cotton aprons.

Folk soap – a favourite,

Produced in Port Talbot, by Pauline and Bryan these skin-loving soaps are made with natural oils and plant-based materials and avoid irritants like sulphites. They are part of SUSSED’s eco-friendly range of plastic-free toiletries.

News From SUSSED

SUSSED is open for you 11am - 2pm every Saturday 

TAKE TO YOUR SEWING MACHINES WITH OUR PORTHCAWL FACE-MASK MAKERS

Keep your family and the SUSSED family active

Join these crafty volunteers who are fashioning a double-layered face-mask to help Porthcawl residents keep healthy and safe. By purchasing one of our masks not only are you protecting yourself and your family, you are helping us stay open.

Drop off mask donations during our Saturday opening hours. Check out these instructions for making a mask.

Cwtchable Creations, who make our Cwtch/Cariad cushions and aprons, have also provided a selection of masks for both men and women.

Home-made cloth masks are quickly becoming commonplace providing a degree of protection against Covid 19 infection, when combined with frequent hand washing and social-distancing measures.

Reports show that the virus can live in droplets in the air for up to one to three hours after an infected individual has left an area. Covering your face and mouth will help prevent these droplets from getting into the air and infecting others. 

Our masks are priced from £2.50. Availability is limited - once they’re gone, they’re gone.

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LOCAL HONEY

A spoonful of sweetness helps the medicine go down.

While the rest of us have been on the go slow, the bees of Bridgend have been busy.

Mêl-y-Bryn have hives all around the county producing excellent quality honey, and there is plenty of it in stock at SUSSED for only £6.25.

Local bees forage near-by. Since many seasonal allergies are caused by local pollen, eating honey that contains that pollen can combat those allergies. The purer the honey the stronger the medicinal properties, with anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial benefits to boot.

Bees importantly help to pollinate other plants beneficial for biodiversity and thus other wildlife. As bees are now seriously endangered, it’s even more vital that we support local beekeepers.

Shopping local has tremendous environmental benefits supporting town traders. When it comes to honey you’re helping the planet and also yourself.

Bombus terrestris in Porthcawl this April

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VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

I currently volunteer with SUSSED because I share their values of ethical fair trade and reducing my impact on climate change. I have always shopped here because it’s one of very few places where I can currently shop locally for organic, eco-friendly and plastic free produce, which is very important to me and my family.

Volunteering has allowed me to contribute to my community, gain some new skills and meet a range of really interesting people who are also committed to a sustainable Wales.

Volunteering also affords additional opportunities for local people to gain practical experience and employ ability skills not only in retail, but also by getting involved in other initiatives run from the shop and the Green Room.

Day to day I run Karma Seas CIC, a Porthcawl based not-for-profit surf therapy, yoga and mindfulness social enterprise, where we aim to provide the great benefits of these activities to people who are currently socially and economically excluded. http://www.karmaseas.org.uk

Julia Thomas

Fairtrade Fortnight 2020

Help Sustainable Wales & Sussed Celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight And Watch Out For The ‘Story Bombs’! (1)

The annual, hugely popular UK FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT takes place in 2020 February 24 – March 6.

To celebrate, Porthcawl-based charity, Sustainable Wales will champion with food, fashion, stories and stalls.

Their community cooperative, SUSSED, will offer students, parents and shoppers free samples of fairtrade chocolate, tea, coffee and sugar at stalls held in schools and in the Porthcawl street.

A small new range of dresses/skirts made from recycled saris will also be available for the ethical, eco-chic fashionistas amongst us. Alongside these will be displayed a wide range of fairly traded gifts.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2020

On 29th February, the charity will hold a Fairtrade/ St David Day’s Pop Up Café, 11.00 – 4pm, at 5,James St. Porthcawl CF36 3BG. Diners will be able to select from a menu chosen to celebrate Wales, whilst showing support for people in developing countries.

Throughout Fairtrade Fortnight, shoppers will discover at SUSSED, Porthcawl’s fair trade shop, several ‘storybombs’ (in English and Welsh).

These ‘storybombs’ will tell some extraordinary stories from women producers and help us understand their need for a ‘living income’. The ‘storybomb’ can then be placed somewhere else for others to uncover and so on. (Read Me, Share Me, Hide Me Again.)

Co-ordinator, Margaret Minhinnick says: ”Shoppers increasingly question where their products come from, how they were made, and how the people involved were treated and paid.”

“The public do not want exploitation to be part of the price of their goods.”

“For example, the UK chocolate industry is worth at least £4 billion each year, but Fairtrade cocoa represents a mere fraction of this.”

“The average cocoa farmer inn Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, where 60 percent of all cocoa is grown, makes less than 75p a day. This is well below the extreme poverty line of around £1.40 and is less than the price of a Latte which can’t be right, it just isn’t fair”. Margaret said.

More information: 01656 783962 Contact

(1). Typical Fair Trade ‘Story Bombs’
On top of this the climate crisis is already wreaking havoc on global food production. Farmers are battling less predictable seasons, more plant diseases and weather extremes, leading to a lack of produce, struggling to harvest crops and working longer hours, for lower prices.

For women, the situation is even more unfair. In Côte d’Ivoire, for example, women carry out more than two thirds of the labour involved in cocoa farming. They work in the fields, look after children, carry water, and help bring the crop to market. And yet they often have fewer rights than men, and often earn less than a quarter of the money generated.

To change this story, we need more people in the UK to understand the power they have as consumers and to choose Fairtrade as much as possible..

We need to show companies that people in the UK expect them to go much further to pay a living income prices to farmers – and Fairtrade is the most trusted way to show it.

NOTES:
Only Fairtrade is campaigning publicly for the right to a living income for farmers – men and women:-
Price: The Fairtrade Premium and the Fairtrade Minimum Price are driving real change, right now. Fairtrade farmers and workers have a safety net that protects them from low prices for their crops.

Premium: Fairtrade farmers and workers choose how they spend the Premium, which they can use to make their farms and communities stronger. It also allows them to invest in different ways of making money, so that they are less reliant on the unpredictable cocoa market.

Women’s empowerment: Fairtrade is also supporting more women cocoa farmers to take the reins and stand tall alongside men. Fairtrade Standards make sure that they have a voice in their community, are represented in decision-making and benefit from Fairtrade. We know that independent income in the hands of women brings positive change to communities even faster.

Environment: While you can’t protect the planet without protecting its people first, rigorous Fairtrade Standards support farmers to protect the environment and the Fairtrade Premium is enabling them to invest in climate resilience and adaptation.