Rutland Fairtrade Christmas market attracted record crowd at Oakham Castle

Shoppers continued to support a long-running Christmas market when it returned on Saturday.

A record number of people attended the Rutland Fairtrade Christmas Market at Oakham Castle.

The event was opened by High Sheriff of Rutland, Richard Cole, who spoke about the ways in which Fairtrade products help producers to work their way out of poverty.

Chairman of the Rutland Fairtrade Forum, David Lewis, said: “It was wonderful to see the castle so busy. We have been running an annual market since 2008 and this was our best attendance to date, with over 1,000 visitors.

“We are very grateful to the people of Rutland for their continued support for Fairtrade. We would also like to express our gratitude to both Rutland County Council and the Co-op for their help in ensuring that this year’s event was such a success.”

A raffle for the charity Save the Children Fund raised £179.

Members of the Fairtrade group will be running a stall at All Saints’ Church during the town’s late-night shopping event on Monday, December 9. People can drop in to find out more about its work or email rutlandfairtrade@gmail.com for more details.

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