Arundel Castle’s Ethical Fair proves an absolute cracker

More than 50 stalls were set up in the castle restaurant and corridors, selling everything from lovingly restored vintage gardening tools to ethical sneakers and fairly traded chocolate.

Visitors from a wide area brought their Christmas shopping lists, but at the same time many were aiming to spend their money on goods that had been produced ethically and sustainably and often benefiting communities in poorer countries.

Products from Thailand, Kenya, Rwanda and Madagascar were among those on offer.

There was much evidence, too, of recycling, reusing and re-making items to create new products, from clothing and bags to jewellery and artworks.

Traditional Sussex trugs were on sale for gardening enthusiasts and they could also choose plants to take home with them.

The event was organised by the Arundel Fairtrade Group, which achieved Fairtrade Town status for Arundel in 2004, the first town in West Sussex to do so.

Pip Young, a member of the group, who led the team organising Saturday’s fair, said: “About a third of the stallholders were new this year, including traders from London, Oxford and Reading. We had good feedback from them, and from customers, too.

“We were pleased with the fair, and I thought the stalls looked really good this year. All the traders did well.”