Members' Newsletter ~ Quarterly Return 85

QUARTERLY RETURN 85 Autumn 2012

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Co-operatives: A Global Phenomenon

The Root of the Fair Trade Movement

toledo cacao growers association

Find out more about the growing co-operatives movement

Discover how coffee makes it from the tree to your cup

Learn more about our new lending in Belize

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Welcome Hello and welcome to the autumn issue of QR, as always we have lots to report from Shared Interest HQ. The summer months were busy for our Business Development team. We have visited Bolivia and Chile to catch up with current customers and follow up leads to potential new lending. We will of course update you on any account openings.

As you know we have regional offices in Kenya, Peru and Ghana. Once a year our regional representatives visit Newcastle to catch up with the rest of the team and to feed back on developments overseas. Rachel, Paul and John travelled over at the end of September, as always it was lovely to have them in the office.

The rest of the staff team were left feeling very inspired by Rachel, Paul and John’s anecdotes; as hearing about the people that they meet really does remind us here in the UK of the impact that we have on the lives of others.

Although it seems early, it won’t be long until Christmas is upon us. We believe that the Shared Interest gift pack is the perfect gift for your ethically minded friends and family.

The pack really is the gift that keeps on giving and I would encourage you to visit www.shared-interest.com/giftpack to find out how you can open a whole new world for someone you love.

Patricia Alexander, Managing Director

Setting the board high

You may have noticed the advert for new Non-Executive Directors in the previous issue of QR. Since then we have received a number of queries about how we appoint our Board members.

Finance Director and Company Secretary, Tim Morgan explains:

Whenever there is an opportunity to join the Board our Nominations Committee gets together to assess the skills and experience gap at that time.

The required expertise is then advertised within QR and candidates are short listed for interview.

This process is observed by the Moderator of the Council, adding to the assurance for members that a rigorous and objective process is used to recruit Directors. Following interviews and references, a candidate is selected and proposed to the wider Board, which will then normally meet the individual as an observer at a Board meeting and finally vote on their co-option to the Board.

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Any Director who is co-opted in this way, automatically resigns at the next available AGM and submits themselves to re-election by the entire membership (through a postal ballot). As soon as someone joins the Board they also commence a detailed induction which explains the various processes of Shared Interest and setting out their responsibilities and duties.

If you have any questions or would like any further information please contact tim.morgan@shared-interest.com

Front cover photo: Coffee picker from Shared Interest customer, Pangoa

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Our volunteers are vital

By Marketing and Relationships Manager, Kerrey Baker The role of the Shared Interest volunteer is diverse and there are no set conditions on the time given or skills required. We currently have 112 volunteers who are all vital to the continuation of Shared Interest.

Our volunteers are driven by a passion to create a fairer world and they work within their own communities to impact lives around the globe. They do this by promoting Shared Interest within their networks. They put our literature in their local community groups, churches or shops; they act as fair trade advisers, they give presentations or help on stalls at local events.

They are unique in that they often don’t see the end result of their time, as the impact of their role is not on their own doorstep.

We know that “word of mouth” promotion is by far the most effective way to increase membership and this year we have raised almost £110,000 of share capital in this way.

stephen’s

story

Stephen Hayes, aged 63, lives in Glasgow. He is married to Shivonne and they have a son, Sean aged 13 and a daughter, Clare aged 12.

“I was raised very close to Liverpool’s docks, which brought sailors from all over the world and this, together with my father’s tales of war service in Burma, made me aware of countries overseas with needs far different to our own.

We have been working hard to raise the profile of Shared Interest, organising events and advertising in national publications.

In 1994, a post in NHS management brought me to Scotland. Here we formed a link with a hospital in Kathmandu to enable their nurses to train in our high dependency unit.

Despite this, we have fallen short of our share capital target and in order to assist more communities around the globe we need your help, get in touch on volunteers@shared-interest.com or 0191 2339134 to find out how you can get involved.

This is when I felt a deeper engagement with the developing world and moved with my family to Karachi to manage a not-for-profit primary health care company in Pakistan. This strong relationship with Pakistan continued when I returned to Scotland in 2002. It was during this time that I became aware of Shared Interest. International aid strikes me as important but still fails to address the issue of sustainability.

Upcoming events Sunderland Fairtrade Festival Sunderland Winter Gardens Saturday 27 October

Co-operatives United Manchester Central 29 October – 2 November For further information on this event visit www.manchester2012.coop

One World Fair Oxford Town Hall, Oxford Saturday 17 November, 10am-4.30pm

Save the date for the Shared Interest Members’ Day and Annual General Meeting Newcastle Friday 15 March 2013

Shared Interest is an innovative concept in that it goes far beyond charitable giving in using an individual’s savings – which may be needed again one day but can be put to good use in the interim – to finance fair trade businesses that may not be able to find financial support elsewhere.

I was also drawn to the organisation’s ethical basis, and mutual principles in being a co-operative, along with its transparency.

The idea of becoming a voluntary ambassador for Shared Interest was attractive because I am sure there are so many people of goodwill in the UK who would readily become investors but haven’t yet heard of the organisation. Being an ambassador is rewarding in that not only is the cause worthy but the message is almost always received with courtesy and intrigue.

By giving talks, manning stalls at events and through personal contact, I continue to help promote Shared Interest in west central Scotland, while also continuing my consultancy and getting involved in other aspects of the fair trade movement here.”

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28/09/2012 13:30:51

co-op

A Globa

Q. When did you get involved in the organisation?

Co-operatives UK is the national trade body that campaigns for co­­­­­­-operation and works to promote, develop and unite co-operative enterprises.

They believe that people are innately co‑operative and that both society and business benefit from working together. Their work with policy makers, business leaders and the public is designed to stress the value of collaborative working in to the UK. Together the co-operative economy is worth £35.6 billion. With 13.5 million members, co-operatives are the largest membership movement in the country.

Co-operatives UK is headed up by its Secretary General, Ed Mayo. Ed is a big Shared Interest supporter and some of you may have met him when he opened our AGM in 2010. We caught up with Ed to find out more about co-operatives in the UK and his role in the movement.

Q. Can you describe Co-operatives UK to our membership?

A. I have been a co-operative member as long as I can remember and helped to start a co-operative where I live. So when I came to Co-operatives UK three years ago, it was my dream job!

Q. What led you towards the role?

A. I worked for a number of years at the World Development Movement and the New Economics Foundation, so I had plenty of opportunity to learn about the amazing examples of co-operatives around the world.

Over this time, I was one of the team that started the Fairtrade Mark and our inspiration was a co-operative in Mexico that produced the mass market Max Havelaar coffee.

Oh, and I have long been an individual member of Shared Interest!

Q. How important is it for co-operatives, like Shared Interest, to be a member of Co-operatives UK? A. Membership of Co-operatives UK gives access to technical support and advice on key aspects of running as a co-operative and influence on the regulations that affect your running, but the key benefit is the way in which coming together gives the co-operative and mutual sector a stronger voice in the UK.

A. As a member of Shared Interest, you are already involved in at least one UK co-operative. Co-ops are businesses with ethical values where members have a democratic say. There are around 5,000 independent co-operatives and wider mutuals across the UK and Co-operatives UK is the home for these, bringing them together and promoting this as a model for our times.

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28/09/2012 13:30:56

operatives:

lobal Phenomenon Q. 2012 is the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives. How did this initiative come about?

A. There are 1.4 million co-operatives around the world. It is a global phenomenon. The most passionate country on co-operatives is Mongolia and the United Nations General Assembly agreed to Mongolia’s proposal to mark 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives, in recognition of our contribution to the Millennium Development Goals.

Q. What does this international recognition mean for the co-operative movement?

A. In a word, confidence. There is no question in my mind that the co-operative movement is enjoying a renaissance and one of the reasons for this is the public recognition and trust that is growing.

Number of co-operatives in the UK, 5,933 In 2011 the number of co-operatives grew by 8.9% Between 2008 and 2011 the numbers grew by 23%

Q. As the co-operative sector continues to grow is there a particular industry that you would like to see an increase of co-operatives in?

A. I have been inspired by the growth of farmer co-operatives in Scotland, who are taking a leaf out of the book of fair trade producers and coming together in the face of the stranglehold of big supermarkets. Food is a natural product for co-operation and not just competition.

Q. What is your view of the relationship between the fair trade and co-operative movements?

Q. In the UK, Co-operatives Fortnight is continuing to grow. Do you have any personal highlights from this year’s campaign?

A. Too many! The highlight for me is that we have launched a free smartphone App, called Co-operate, which anyone can download. The App allows you to find co-ops and mutuals close to you, wherever you are. It is not just Co-op food shops, Co-operative Bank or Nationwide branches. There are farmer co-ops, co-operative schools, credit unions as well as Co-operative Energy and the Phone Co-op.

Q. What impact do you think that the UK’s recession has had on the co-operative movement?

A. Whereas the economy as a whole has declined over the last four years, the co-operative sector has grown very considerably.

It is tough for businesses, but it helps in the co-operative model that the people who own the business are those most closely involved in it whether the staff, the customers and supporters or the growers.

A. The fair trade movement is co-operative. With the exception of the plantations that are certified, the smallholder producer groups behind fair trade are almost all democratic co-operatives. It is the participation of marginal producers which makes fair trade unique. 75% of all fair trade worldwide comes from co-operatives and I love the fact that every major retailer in the country has some of its shelf space reserved for co-operative producers.

Q. What do you think is the future for this relationship?

A. Inequalities are still rising worldwide and the economic compass is stuck on austerity. We need to do all we can, to use every pound we can, form every alliance that we can to build a better world.

For more information on Co-operatives UK visit www.uk.coop

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Our Biggest Achievement…

We Didn’t Chicken Out Massachusetts-based Equal Exchange inc has created Big Change for over 25 years. It all started with an idea: what if food could be traded in a way that is honest and fair, a way that empowers both farmers and consumers?

Founders, Rink Dickinson, Jonathan Rosenthal and Michael Rozyne asked this question as they envisioned a trade model that values farmers and consumers. They took a big risk and plunged full-force into changing a broken food system. In 1986, they started with fairly traded coffee from Nicaragua and didn’t look back. We spoke to Rink to find out more about Equal Exchange Inc. and the impact that Shared Interest has had on the co-operative.

Q. Where did the idea for Equal Exchange Inc come from?

A. The idea really came from three people, Jonathan Rosenthal, Michel Rozyne and myself. During the early 1980s we were all in our 20s and part of a food co-operative that bought produce directly from local farmers. We loved the idea and were really keen to see if the same process would work internationally.

As a starting point we looked at what others, such as Campaign Coffee were doing internationally.

We really believed in the idea and so spoke to our Board at the food co-operative and suggested that the warehouse start to purchase from international sellers as well as begin to educate members of the co-operative about food and where their food comes from, particularly about the banana production process.

The Board turned us down and we realised that we were going to have to build a new organisation if we wanted to realise our dream.

Q. Did you have much support in the early days?

A. Although the Board rejected our proposal we had a lot of support from our network of friends, family and associates. Equal Exchange Inc grew very slowly and organically over a good two or three years but we couldn’t have done it without the help of our early supporters who provided advice and expertise as well as start-up capital.

Despite us telling our support community to “only invest what they were willing to lose”, we managed to raise $100,000 which enabled us to buy those first bags of coffee and get Equal Exchange Inc started.

Q. What happened next?

A. The first two years were hard and I was certainly thinking “is this going to work…ever?” but we kept believing in it and by the third year we broke even and knew that the business model was going to work.

Q. Are the founders still involved in the organisation?

A. We are all still doing fair trade and social justice food work. We are still in the same network. I am the only one still working at Equal Exchange Inc. Q. How big is the co-operative today?

A. We have over 100 worker members. Anyone that is employed by Equal Exchange Inc can be voted into the co-operative after one year.

In terms of farmers, today we have hundreds of thousands of farmers in our network.

Coffee remains our main product and accounts for around 75% of our portfolio. The coffee that we purchase comes from fair trade farmers in Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Honduras and Ethiopia.

We are an organisation that is dedicated to fair trade and committed to preserving the rights of the small holder farmers that we work with.

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Q. Have you always been engaged in the fair trade movement?

A. Equal Exchange Inc started before fair trade certification even existed but yes we have always been a fair trade business based on fair trade principles.

Q. How do you plan to move forward with the growing fair trade market?

Managing your account Topping up your Share Account is easy; you can set up a standing order, send in a cheque or use a Bank Giro Credit slip to deposit funds.

A. We recognise that the fair trade market is continuing to grow and we hope to develop alongside it. We have begun to diversify our product range and are moving towards stocking chocolate, bananas and products such as Geobars. Our eyes really have been opened to the amount of other products that are now available.

Q. When did you get involved with Shared Interest?

A. Shared Interest is really important to us. I think that we first got involved in around 1994 and we were one of the first if not the first coffee relationship that Shared Interest established.

At the time the coffee market had spiked dramatically following one if its lowest points for a number of years.

This left Equal Exchange Inc desperate for capital and thankfully Shared Interest and its members were willing to take a risk and invest in us.

Q. What has our members’ investment enabled your organisation to do?

A. Shared Interest members have literally enabled us to buy coffee beans. If the market changes really fast like it did in the early 1990s, co-operatives are really at risk and access to capital is crucial. As the price of coffee rises, middle men or coyotes swoop in and try to buy directly from the farmers for a high price. Co-operatives are unable to act this quickly as and as a result cannot deliver promised orders.

This would obviously have a huge impact on the integrity of the fair trade movement as well as on the individual farmers within the co-operative.

Co‑operatives are dependent on finance and Shared Interest provides a critical role in the whole process.

Q. During your time with Equal Exchange Inc what has been your and the organisation’s biggest achievement to date?

A. I still believe that our greatest achievement is that none of us chickened out. That we believed in our dream and our commitment to our shared goal got us started and off the ground.

Q. What are you hoping to achieve in the future?

A. The goal is to keep building new ways to connect consumers to farmers. Fair trade has seen great success but there is still a long way to go. I believe that people are at the heart of what we do, we need to keep developing people, challenging them and encouraging them to grow and be dynamic so that they can keep the movement going.

To find out more about Rink and Equal Exchange Inc. visit www.equalexchange.coop

Standing Orders When creating a standing order with your bank you will need to quote the following information: Shared Interest bank account number: 70062793 Sort code: 08 90 06 To help us allocate the deposit to your account please also reference your ten digit account number.

Cheque All cheques should be made payable to Shared Interest Society LTD. If possible please include a Bank Giro Credit slip in the envelope with the cheque. If you do not have a Bank Giro Credit slip, please write your ten digit account number on the back of your cheque. This should be sent to our Newcastle office: Membership Shared Interest Society 2 Cathedral Square Groat Market Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 1EH If you’ve run out of Bank Giro Credit slips, please contact membership on 0191 233 9102 or membership@shared-interest.com and we will send you a fresh supply.

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28/09/2012 13:30:59

The Root of the

Fair Trade Movement Coffee is undoubtedly at the root of the fair trade movement. It was coffee that was first sold to Dutch supermarkets in 1988 and since then it has established itself firmly in the mainstream. Coffee is something that has become part of our daily routines but have you ever stopped to think about where coffee comes from and how it gets from the trees to your favourite cup?

Coffee beans A coffee bean is actually a seed. When dried, roasted and ground, it is used to brew coffee.

However if it’s not processed, it can be planted and will grow into a coffee tree.

Coffee seeds are generally planted in large beds in shaded nurseries. After sprouting, the seedlings are planted in individual pots until they are strong enough to be permanently planted. Planting often takes place during the wet season, so that the soil around the young trees remains moist while the roots become firmly established.

Coffee cherries Depending on the variety, it will take approximately three to four years for coffee trees to begin to bear fruit. The fruit, called the coffee cherry, turns a bright, deep red when it is ripe and ready to be harvested. In most coffee-growing countries, there is one major harvest a year, which takes place between October and March depending on the country.

The coffee crop is picked by hand which is a labour-intensive and difficult process. Once picked, coffee can be harvested in one of two ways: • Strip Picked: mean that the entire crop is harvested at one time. This method means that under and over ripe cherries are picked as well as the premium berries. • Selectively Picked: Only the ripe cherries are harvested and they are picked individually by hand. Pickers rotate among the trees every eight to ten days, choosing only the cherries which are at the peak of ripeness. As this kind of harvest is labour intensive, and therefore more costly, it is used primarily to harvest the finer arabica beans.

Processing the Cherries Once the coffee has been picked, processing must begin as quickly as possible to prevent spoilage.

The Dry Method The freshly picked cherries are spread out to dry in the sun. They are raked and turned throughout the day, then covered at night, or if it rains, to prevent

them from getting wet. This process might continue for several weeks for each batch of coffee.

The Wet Method First, the cherries are passed through a pulping machine where the skin and pulp is separated from the bean. The pulp is washed away with water, usually to be dried and used as mulch. The beans are separated by weight in the water, the lighter beans float to the top, while the heavier, ripe beans sink to the bottom. They are then passed through a series of rotating drums which separate them by size.

After separation, the beans are transported to fermentation tanks. Depending on the condition of the beans, the climate and the altitude - they will remain in these tanks for anywhere from 12 to 48 hours. While resting in the tanks, naturally occurring enzymes will cause the layer of mucilage that is still attached to the parchment to dissolve. After fermentation the beans will feel rough, rather than slick, to the touch.

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Kaderes Peasants Development (KPD)

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KPD has been trading locally since 2008 but it wasn’t until 2011 that this Tanzanian coffee co-operative was able to export its produce, selling to UK-based Cafédirect.

KPD has almost 600 shareholder farmers who supply the group with coffee beans. KPD has four warehouses that clean, process and store the beans until they are ready for export.

KPD trains its members in the organic production of coffee, the principles of fair trade and quality improvement. They have also constructed water tanks at local schools, dispensaries for the community and classrooms for primary and secondary schools.

Casil Based in San Ignacio in Northern Peru, Casil is another of Shared Interest’s most recent borrowers.

Casil was originally founded in 1966 and has been through periods of expansion and turmoil. In 2001, 80 members re-established the organisation and obtained organic and Fairtrade certification.

In recent years the group has continued to grow steadily in terms of members, production and sales.

We have provided the group with a facility that will enable them to pre-finance orders and manage cash flow more efficiently. We look forward to bringing you news of their development in the future.

Hulling The final steps in coffee processing involve removing the last layers of dry skin and remaining fruit residue from the now dry coffee, cleaning and sorting it. The first step in dry milling is the removal of what is left of the fruit from the bean. Hulling is done with the help of machines, which can range from simple millstones to sophisticated operations.

Grading and sorting Before being exported, the coffee beans will be sorted by size and weight. They will also be closely evaluated for colour flaws or other imperfections; defective beans are removed to ensure that only the finest quality beans are sold.

Tasting the coffee At every stage of its production, coffee is repeatedly tested for quality and taste. This process is referred to as ‘cupping’. The beans are roasted, ground and infused in boiling water. The cupper smells the coffee then ‘slurps’ a spoonful quickly. The objective is to spray the coffee evenly over the cupper’s taste buds.

An expert cupper can taste hundreds of samples of coffee a day and still taste the subtle differences between them.

Pangoa Peruvian coffee co-operative, Pangoa was created in 1977 by an initiative of 50 individual farmers. The group was initially successful however, during the late 1980s the increase of terrorism in the region caused several members to leave the area and relocate to nearby cities.

Since then the group has rethought its strategy and it became Fairtrade certified in 2001.

Pangoa has been working with Shared Interest since 2010 and we recently approved an additional term loan facility. This will enable the group to undertake a refurbishment and renewal programme which will increase yields, production and sales.

The project will have a direct, positive impact on the income of the farmers and will support the sustainability of the organisation as well as the livelihoods of the individual members.

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Borrowing

in Belize

Belize is a country with a heavy debt burden, high unemployment and an increasing involvement with the Mexican and South American drugs trade. It has high crime rates and one of the highest rates of HIV/ AIDS in Central America.

Toledo, the southernmost district of Belize, is 1,669 square miles of rainforest, mountains, rivers and Mayan villages. Toledans often refer to their home as ‘the forgotten land’ as it is the least visited destination in Belize.

It is in Toledo - the most sparsely populated and least developed region in the country - that Shared Interest’s most recent customer is based.

Toledo Cacao Growers Association (TCGA) represents a total of 1,092 individual members. The co-operative has been exporting to Green & Black’s in the UK since 1993 and their beans were used to produce the Maya Gold chocolate bar, which was the first product in the UK to bear the Fairtrade Mark.

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Since 1993 the group has faced its fair share of adversity. Its location in Central America means that Belize is subjected to a hurricane season. In 2001 TCGA suffered major damage when Hurricane Iris struck, just as the new cocoa pods were beginning to be appear on the trees. In some villages the entire harvest was eradicated and, that year, TCGA only produced seven tonnes of processed beans.

Thanks to the quick replanting by the farmers the group recovered and harvested a crop of almost 64 tonnes in 2008. TCGA now uses crop rotation to try and ensure that it doesn’t ever lose a whole harvest again. The farmers have also diversified their product range and produce items such as ginger to make sure that they always have something to sell.

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All the co-operative’s farmers harvest, dry and ferment their beans before transporting them to one of TCGA’s three export centres. Here the beans are subjected to quality control measures where 20 beans are taken from each sack, cut open and tested for quality and colour.

The inspectors are particularly on the lookout for mould as if more than one bean is contaminated then the entire bag is rejected.

Cocoa production has also strengthened the position of women in the community.

Unlike other commodities such as rice, post-harvest processing is an important part of cocoa production and women play a key role. Beans are fermented in boxes next to houses for five days. Once they are fermented, they are dried in the sun, turned, and protected from rain. Women control these operations and as a result they can benefit directly from the income generated by cocoa.

TCGA’s goal is to improve the quality and increase the quantity of cocoa produced. The target is a yield of at least 136 tonnes a year. To help achieve this, the group provides technical training to the farmers. TCGA is increasing the amount of acres farmed and has introduced a series of rehabilitation programmes that ensure the cocoa plants remain free from mould. TCGA has also invested in communal drying facilities and fermentation boxes to improve the quality of the beans as demanded by the market.

TCGA has plans to use Shared Interest funds to pre-finance orders to Green & Black’s. We are confident that with our support, TCGA can make the first steps to financial independence and will move away from the ‘traditional’ grant funding on which producers in Belize have come to rely. We believe that our lending will improve their chances of building up a portfolio and promote their planned future growth.

The group’s chairman Justino Peck explains the impact of Fairtrade on the co-operative: “For the farmers, Fairtrade means the security of knowing that they will be paid a set price for their cacao. If not for the Fairtrade deal, a lot of farmers would have moved away, breaking up families and communities, to earn a living doing something else.

“They would have to go away to work on shrimp or citrus farms because there is no other industry here. Being able to sell a product to a definite market means we can stay.”

Peck explains: “Because of cacao, people are able to buy clothing, medical supplies, school books and uniforms.

A lot of children didn’t go to school before but now they can.

This new lending represents new ground for Shared Interest as this is the first time that we have made payments to Belize.

Business Development Manager, Elisabeth Wilson said: “It is always very exciting when we start lending within a new country, although we do of course only do this in a measured way. Lending to new countries helps us not only to spread our risk but also further our reach. This in turn extends our impact as we are able to assist more disadvantaged producers living across the globe.”

“Although medical care is subsidised you have to pay if you want to visit a doctor and you also have to pay for the medicine. Having cacao has enabled us to do this.

Essentially, farmers were subsistence farmers before but now they can afford to pay for things that are one step beyond just surviving.”

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IMAGINE A GIFT THAT CHANGES LIVES With Christmas approaching, you may be looking for a gift that is not only different but also makes a difference. Shared Interest now has gift packs available that will open a whole new world for someone you love.

Imagine a gift that changes lives. Open a Share Account on behalf of a friend or family member for a minimum of £100 and they can get involved in helping fair trade farmers and handicraft producers in the developing world.

Once the gift pack has been signed over to your friend or family member, it operates like a normal Share Account.

Each gift pack tells the story of Shared Interest and can be sent to you or directly to its new home with a handmade seasonal card to match.

The cards are handmade in Rwanda using recycled paper by young people who have lost their parents to conflict or disease. The sale of each card helps empower the group, called Cards from Africa, to provide education, food and shelter for their brothers and sisters.

If you want to offer a special present this year that isn’t just for Christmas, the Shared Interest gift pack really is the gift that keeps on giving…

Find out more at www.shared-interest.com/gift-pack or by contacting membership@shared-interest.com or on 0191 233 9102.

IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT OUR SECURE AREA Welcome aboard to those of you who have opted in to join our online Secure Area. This will enable you to view your account details online, as well as access resources and see the latest messages from Shared Interest. Volunteers will be able to post information on events on the noticeboard facility and use the interactive map to get in touch with others in their area.

We have had a great response and are looking forward to getting more of you online. The Secure Area has been designed to complement how we already keep you up to date with your Share Account. Signing up is optional and you may choose not to use this facility, which won’t affect your Share Account in any way. If you would like to get involved, please complete the Opt In form we sent out to you and post it back to us in the Freepost envelope provided.

Whether or not you decide to use the Secure Area, your Share Account will continue to operate as normal. You may want to make changes yourself, however, when you are up and running. For instance, if you decide that you no longer need to receive statements by post once you can view them online, simply follow the instructions in the Secure Area to make this change.

For those of you who receive your quarterly statement and copy of QR by email, the next message you receive will invite you to view these via the Secure Area. If you have not already signed up to the Secure Area, you will need to do this in order to get your User Name and Password. All you need to do is complete your Opt In Form as mentioned above. Mislaid this form? Please just give us a call and we can send another out to you.

If you have any questions about the Secure Area, please get in touch by contacting stina.porter@shared-interest.com or on 0191 233 9132. We look forward from hearing from you.

Alternatively you can call membership on 0191 233 9102 to request your pack.

Contact us Shared Interest 2 Cathedral Square, Groat Market, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1EH 0191 233 9102 membership@shared-interest.com

Quarterly Return is the newsletter of Shared Interest.

Shared Interest Society Ltd is a fair trade lending organisation which is a member of Co-operatives UK. It uses the pooled investments of its members in the UK to effect real and lasting improvements to people’s lives in the developing world.

QR is printed on paper from sustainable, well managed sources certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Shared Interest Society Ltd is registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies, number 27093R. The Directors decide on what the interest amount will be, if any, after the end of the financial year when financial results for the past year are known.

Since 1 December 2008 the interest rate has been 0%.

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