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The Tribe Shop in one guise or another has been up and running since 2004. When we are not running our little business from a barn in York, we are wandering the world finding new and exciting things to put in our shop.
While we are doing this, we try to make sure all our trading is ethical and fair, meaning that we make sure we know where the things we sell are made and by whom, and we make sure they get a good deal out of it. We make sure that the people who make our products get a fair wage and they work in a safe and healthy environment. We visit as many suppliers as possible to check that fair standards are being applied, for instance a decent workplace, no child labour and gender equality. We mostly buy off small family businesses, and they set the prices for their things, so we don’t haggle or bargain with them. In most cases, it is the extended family of the trader who make the items, so we know it is ok and we have met them.
As well as this, we also want to give something back to the areas we buy from, so we have decided to donate 10% of our monthly income from all our endeavours to CINI, the Child in Need Institute, India. CINI are a favoured charity of ours as they have been going for 25 years and provide sustainable development in health, nutrition and education of children, adolescents and women in need across Northern India, through things like programs of sponsorship for impoverished mothers and their children.
For more information on CINI and the work they do please visit their site at www.ciniuk.org
Because of what we try to do here our things are ‘Fair Trade’, but we don’t think it is really properly fair unless the prices we then sell our things for here are fair to our customers as well, and not extortionately and unreasonably high just because of the Fair Trade tag. So as a result of this we have kept all our prices as low as feasibly possible (whilst still making a living off it, obviously), meaning you can buy our beautiful camel leather diaries without harming a camel, without harming any traders or manufacturers and without harming your bank balance.
We hope you like our things and find something you feel an overwhelming urge to purchase!!
All the best,
Nicky & Adam at The Tribe Shop.
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