The Grand Re-Launch

In 1986, Carol Morton, wife of Colin Morton, the then minister of Prestongrange Parish Church, set up The Small World in a room in the former Council wages office in Prestonpans.

These days, Carol is kept busy at Palcrafts/Hadeel (an Edinburgh-based organisation selling crafts from community-based groups in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon).  We were delighted she was able to return to the shop yesterday to celebrate it's grand re-launch at a select gathering which included Iain Gray MSP, former volunteers and representatives of local organisations.  



The shop received its first makeover in over 20 years thanks to donations from Prestonpans Community Council, B&Q and an anonymous donor.   


Whether you are a regular customer, infrequent visitor or have never been before, we warmly welcome you to join us for some fair trade refreshments (and facepainting!) at our Open Day this Saturday, 11th September from 10 until 3.

Proud Distributors of the Kitchen Canny!

Canny [‘kani] adj 1 careful, prudent, astute la16-. 2 skilful, dextrous 19-. 3 frugal, sparing 19-: ‘be canny wi the butter’

Go to Ac

Kitchen Canny is a brand new Changeworks project that aims to help householders find practical ways to reduce their food waste.

Changeworks is working with four thousand people in communities across the Lothian and Borders area to find out what works when it comes to cutting down the amount of edible food we throw away.


Every kitchen is different.  They want to help you figure out what works best for you and the way you run your kitchen. You may already know a lot of the things you could be doing but may not have found the time to try them out.  The Kitchen Canny Householder Action Kit aims to encourage you to find the time and guide you through some ideas that might fit.

Here's why we think it's important:
It's better for your pocket
According to recent research, Scottish households wastw £1 billion of food each year  -that's £430 per household. The cost of collecting all that food waste is £85 million a year (The Food We Waste in Scotland, WRAP 2009
It's better for the environment
Producing, transporting and storing food uses huge amounts of energy, water and packaging. When you waste food, you waste all of these resources too
That's not all. The majority of food waste ends up in landfill sites where it decomposes and releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas
It's better for people
1 billion people of going hungry according to the World Food Programme, with 1 in 5 not getting enough food to be healthy.

You can pick up your FREE Kitchen Canny Kit at The Small World Shop from Tuesday 7th September while stocks last.

We want to get to know you better!

We are really keen to have your views on the type of products you would like us to stock and whether we could be doing more to help you.

For example, would a delivery service be of interest to you?  Are our opening hours convenient for you?

Please let us know by completing our customer survey.

We know form-filling is no-one's favourite pastime so we have designed the questionnaire to be as painless as possible and, as an extra incentive, completed questionnaires will be added to a prize draw to win a £10 Small World gift voucher.

You can either pick up a questionnaire in the shop or download a pdf version here.  Entries can be handed in or posted to us (by 30th September please).

The Batsiranai Story

When is a doll more than a gift or plaything? When it’s from Batsiranai.

Each of the dolls sold by Traidcraft has a twin in Zimbabwe, where it was made. So when you buy one of these handmade dolls, you keep one and its twin is given to a needy child from a family affected by HIV/AIDS. For many of the children, this is their first doll.

The dolls, which will be arriving in the shop next week, are made by the Batsiranai Mothers Group, which provides work for around 100 women in poor townships surrounding Harare. The members are mothers of special needs children, who are often shunned in Zimbabwe, not just by society but by their extended families as well.

Batsiranai means working together in Shona, the local language, and by working in this way the women aim to create a secure future for the children. The group is self-managed by a committee of seven elected members, with the group making decisions as a team. They are proud of the level of co-operation between the members.

During the last five years, Batsiranai has expanded and bought two houses that are used for daycare, physical therapy, workrooms, an office, and housing for three families. The centre provides hot meals and a vegetable garden for the members and children working there.

Last Christmas they provided a special lunch and party for the 100 Batsiranai mothers and their families, as well as a Christmas food basket.

The women are determined to see the business grow, which is why orders are really important, to provide them with a market.

“The only wish I have now is for Batsiranai to grow bigger and become an even stronger business, so that we will be able to help others,” member Mai Chiedza said, “because there are many people out there, just like us, wishing.”

You can order your doll now (by phone or in person) and pay on collection (£16) from the Small World Shop.

Open Day!

The staff & volunteers of The Small World Aid & Development Fund

cordially invite you to an

OPEN HOUSE

 to celebrate the

 RE-LAUNCH of

THE SMALL WORLD SHOP

On Saturday, 11^th September, 2010, 

from 10:00 -15:00 at

9A Orchard Crescent, Prestonpans

The Big Fairtrade Lunch

The Small World may be closed for the summer break but on Sunday 18 July, our volunteers joined up with Prestonpans residents for the Big Fabulous (Fair Trade) Cuthill Lunch.

The Big Lunch is a bring-your-own, open-air party giving everyone a chance to get to know their neighbours, share food and have fun. Over a million people, in every kind of community, took part in over 8,000 Big Lunches across the UK.

As Britain celebrates its local communities, making Fairtrade part of the Big Lunch means we also celebrate communities across the world and empower farmers in developing countries to create their own brighter, more sustainable future through a better trade deal. The Big Lunch is also a wonderful opportunity to pass our Fairtrade habit on to friends and neighbours!

Edinburgh Marathon 2010 - a personal thanks

We've been asked to pass on this message to the people of Prestonpans - and we are happy to oblige!

To: panscom@prestonpans.com
Sent: Saturday, 29 May, 2010 9:52:20
Subject: Edinburgh Marathon 2010 - a personal thanks

Dear Prestonpans.com

I wanted to find some way to say thank you to the kind people of Prestonpans for their support on Sunday 23rd May.
You made the runners, including me, very welcome.

The cheers, hosepipes, water pistols, Haribos and jelly babies were a real boost in the hot conditions.
Great going out and a real boost for the final few miles.

I don't underestimate the disturbance, mess and traffic problems an event like the Marathon can bring.
However, your warmth and kindness to people raising millions for charity was a hugely uplifting highlight - Scotland at its best!

Thanks again

(and yes I finished!)


Niall Patterson
Edinburgh