Unveiling stories of change.
Stranger than fiction, larger than life. In order for love to flourish, truth must deepen.
Never in a million years would I have expected the British establishment to acknowledge the veracity of such an obvious truth. Gold should be Fairtrade.
The migration of this simple truth from a ridiculed fantasy treated by the British jewellery establishment (of the early millennium) with disdain, incredulity and intellectual conceit, to the back bone of any ethical conscientious jewellers product claim, is quite frankly a testimony that all things are possible.
Receiving an MBE is an honour extended to everyone who has stood up for fair trade principles in this profession. But it is an honour I dedicate to the majority in the supply chain: the dirt poor, forgotten, marginalised and vilified artisanal miner, who anoints and dignifies our gold with the sweat of their labour, and stands on the wrong side of jewellery's unjust scales.
I am not a fan of the social and environmental aberration called large-scale gold mining.
“So you are doing gold properly?”
That was the question Prince Charles asked me. Yes, I said. We are doing gold in a fair, just, righteous and pure way.
The campaign continues. Despite obvious successes, public awareness of what the gold supply chain does to people remains far too low. I look forward to the day when Fairtrade and gold become the world's most popular way of asking for jewellery.
WHAT WE’VE ACHIEVED
Struck, tested, recorded.
HONOURS
MBE, 2016
For services to Fairtrade gold and to artisanal gold mining communities in South America and Africa.
ACADEMIA
Two honorary doctorates
Winchester and Chichester Universities, for work in social and environmental justice, 2016 and 2017.
INDUSTRY
Top 100 Trailblazer
Named by The Retail Jeweller among the UK jewellery industry's leading trailblazers, twice.
SPEAKING & CONSULTANCY
Bring the argument to your audience.
Conferences, universities, trade bodies, boardrooms and film. Talks on traceable supply chains, artisanal mining, Fairtrade certification and the economics of peace building through gold.
