New Year Honours for Co-op activists

A former director of Lothian Borders and Angus Co-op received an MBE for services to the community.
Jean Mundell recently retired from the society&#039s board after serving for over 28 years.
Ms Mundell, who lives in Dumfries, is Chair and a founding member of Food Train, a local charity set up to provide a grocery delivery service to the elderly and vulnerable in Dumfries and Galloway.
She also serves on the Locharbriggs Community Council and is a Director of the Nithsdale Council of Voluntary Services.
FAIRTRADE champion Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, has been appointed a CBE in the New Year Honours List for her "services to business". 
Ms Lamb&#039s award recognises the growing significance of Fairtrade to UK consumers and businesses and to the five million farmers, workers and their families around the world who benefit from the Fairtrade system.
Said Ms Lamb: "This honour celebrates the growing importance of Fairtrade which the nation is gradually taking to heart. 
"It is a tribute to the achievement of all those who make Fairtrade work: from the farmers and workers in developing countries, to the companies and retailers who offer Fairtrade, to supporters up and down this country who campaign tirelessly for Fairtrade  and of course everyone at the Fairtrade Foundation.
"Fairtrade is a unique alliance of all these people.
 "Fairtrade shows that trade can be managed in a way that benefits farmers and workers while still succeeding commercially. It is incredibly popular with the public who want to play their part in making poverty history.
"This award will further boost our determination to realise our vision of a Fairtrade lifestyle for the public here and a better lifestyle for farmers and workers in Africa, Asia and Latin America".
The Fairtrade Foundation awards the Fairtrade Mark to products that meet internationally agreed Fairtrade standards and is responsible for driving consumer awareness of Fairtrade in the UK.
A MORI poll conducted earlier this year showed that 50 per cent of all UK adults now recognise the Fairtrade Mark.  UK sales of products with the Fairtrade Mark reached &#163 140m in 2004, and have been growing rapidly for the past five years by around 40 per cent year-on-year. At present, 196 different companies offer products with the Fairtrade Mark.
Added Ms Lamb: "In recent years, Fairtrade has grown faster than we could have imagined. There are now over 1,300 products from honey and mangoes to roses and cotton T-shirts.
"The British public currently drink over three million cups of Fairtrade hot beverages and enjoy nearly half a million Fairtrade bananas every day. But our vision is much bigger – if we are going to really tackle global poverty, then all of us here in the UK need to make Fairtrade our everyday habit. That&#039s our call for 2006, so that more farmers and workers in developing countries can participate in Fairtrade."