THE GROUP that recently celebrated victory in making Okehampton a certified Fairtrade town will soon be promoting the benefits to shoppers.

The Okehampton Fairtrade Group has been given permission to use the now empty 'Treats' shop in Red Lion Yard for a promotional event on Edwardian Evening.

Hot chocolate and other Fairtrade refreshments will be available in a festive atmosphere, and there will be displays showing Okehampton's journey to Fairtrade status.

Group chair Kate Thomson said: 'Everyone involved has put in such a lot of effort so far to get Okehampton to be Fairtrade-certified. Now we've got the certification, we can't rest — we need to keep people interested and keep the town council, school, college, shops and, most importantly, shoppers supporting Fairtrade, or we risk losing our status as a Fairtrade town.

'We hope Edwardian Evening will be a perfect opportunity to really push our message to people, and hopefully it will be a nice opportunity for people to have a sit down and a chat in a nice warm, festive atmosphere.'