Outdoor Traders are launching Columbia’s new OutDry range and are inviting anyone to go along to the store on the Sat 3rd & Sun 4th of September to get a free pair of Columbia OutDry shoes worth £110 with any Columbia OutDry footwear purchase.
They even had a stall on the Market Place today demonstrating the products
and gave us snow in September.
Sorry to see that Thorntons in Abingdon are closing on September 24th. Thorntons announced back in June that they would be closing half their 364 stores. So the mini exhibiton celebrating 100 years of Thorntons making chocolate is overshadowed by the announcement of closure.
Their chocolates will still be available in most supermarkets, where they are now very familar, and in Oxford, but not with a personal touch – locally.
Here are a few more pictures from the Fairtrade event on the Market Place …
Mike Moon, the secretary of the Abingdon Chamber of Commerce, was the man who organised the day, along with the Chair Paul Townsend.
Dame Alison Rooke and Dame Lesley Legge were helping to promote Fairtrade products, with free samples. Skinny Hippo also had some things on display alongside.
I was there with a stall called Go bananas for Fairtrade. With a little help from friends I gave away 5 crates of nanas – thanks to Waitrose who did the Fairtrade group a deal.
There is evidence that bananas make you happy, so we could have made a lot of people happy.
It took a few goes but Duncan Brown eventuallly adapted to the flight characteristics of Fairtrade bananas.
Waitrose were there providing free samples of Fairtrade products, and information about the Waitrose Foundation – a partnership created in 2005 to help improve the lives of the farm workers and smallholders who grow their produce in Africa.
The Co-op were also there and a friendly rivalry developed between the two. Co-op were raffling a hamper for Mencap and giving away Fairtrade chocolate.
African Children’s Fund were there ….
Pizza Express, who do some Fairtrade products, were giving out samples.
Traidcraft have been doing Fairtrade, and promoting Trade Justice, in Abingdon far longer than anybody else, apart from maybe Oxfam.
There was also Face Painting near the Added Ingredients and Choose Abingdon stalls.
I have begun to associate the roads off Boxhill Road with amazing evening skies after my last two visits – that is John Mason Rd, Geoffrey Barber Rd, and Bowyer Rd.
Over the other side of the Oxford Road is the best-one convenience store .