Carlisle One World Centre

Carlisle One World Centre (COWC) has been active in Carlisle since 1995.

COWC began as a vision from concerned individuals within the membership of Churches Together in Carlisle. They expressed their concerns to the CTCa Forum and this group, comprising lay and ministerial representatives from almost every church in Carlisle, agreed to the formation of COWC. The Centre was created within the ecumenical complex attached to the Church of Scotland on Chapel Street in Carlisle. At much the same time, the Doves Coffee Lounge and a small Fairtrade shop were opened on the same premises.

Since those early days a group of committed volunteers from within the churches and the wider community worked hard to raise awareness of the issues of development and justice around the world. These activities included local and national campaigning for reduction of debt for the world's poorest nations as part of national Jubilee 2000 and Drop the Debt campaigns. Regular events for Christian Aid Week and One World Week have also been held every year. There were also projects to support International Students attending Carlisle's four institutes of further and higher education, and COWC also hosted an Internet cafe for young people for several months.

Alongside this work, a resource base was built up for use by local schools, churches and youth groups, focused on developing countries and issues of global justice. To further this work, COWC raised the necessary funds to employ a Development Education Advisor, assisting teachers and schools in the Carlisle district in bringing the wider world into the classroom. In 2000, through the Church of Scotland's links with Malawi a midwife HIV/AIDS worker from Ekwendeni region came to Carlisle for visits to local churches and schools. INSETs for teachers and a 'World Wide Week' of activities for children in the school summer holidays were also organised. This work marked the first of a number of joint projects with Cumbria Development Education Centre (CDEC).

The following year, 2001, a new constitution was drawn up for COWC which became a registered company and a registered charity. In the same year, in partnership with CDEC, COWC employed a Development Co-ordinator for COWC's education and awareness-raising work, and, in partnership with Churches Together in Carlisle, a Student Chaplain working at Carlisle College and University of Northumbria Carlisle Campus.

COWC has continued its work of awareness raising and campaigning for world justice issues and has developed closer links with CDEC. In 2003 COWC and CDEC formed a formal partnership for the delivery of development education work both in schools and community-based in the community. The Development Co-ordinator post was transferred to CDEC as part of the new partnership, and became their Community Education Project Worker for Carlisle and Eden. The partnership also enabled CDEC to employ a dedicated schools project worker for Carlisle and Eden.

COWC continues with its core work of awareness raising and campaigning, and has been honoured to receive the support of Lord Frank Judd as its patron.

Towards the end of 2003, COWC was offered the tenancy of a small office attached to the newly opened Carlisle World Shop. This is now the base for the work of COWC and its volunteers, who have now been instrumental in gaining Fairtrade City status for Carlisle.

In June 2004 Carlisle was recognised as having achieved Fairtrade Status, which officially made us a Fairtrade City. We have kept that status ever since.

July 2005 saw a huge interest in Fairtrade with the Make Poverty History campaign. COWC organised a bus load of members and supporters of all ages to join in the Edinburgh rally. During this time we saw a surge in media interest, with local television crew's and journalists interviewing COWC members.

We have built up a good relationship with the media and press in recent years, especially with The News & Star, whose coverage of our campaigns has rapidly increased and been of invaluable help to us. To help establish better communication with them - and the media in general - our first press officer was appointed in late 2005.

In February 2006, Cumbria was announced as a Fairtrade County, making it only the second in the country (after Somerset) to achieve this status.

Carlisle One World Centre is a local charity addressing global issues, seeking to:
* raise awareness of the interconnectedness of local and global issues, and how our actions - as individuals, as communities and as a nation - affect the world
* educate people of all ages about the issues facing 'Third World' peoples
* support the economically and socially deprived, both locally and globally
* campaign for justice throughout the world
through a programme of education, awareness-raising and practical activities.

We are fully committed both to our ecumenical Christian roots and to welcoming the contribution of communities and individuals of other faiths and no faiths. We believe that:
* Every human being has the right to be valued
* We all have a responsibility for environmental sustainability.
* We all have an obligation and moral imperative to seek justice for all people in the world.
* It is vitally important to promote peace in both our local community and the wider world.
* We shouldn't do separately what we can do together.