Charity, Shop, Volunteer

Farewell to Fiona and Jim Rutherford

Left to right: Shop manager Elise Kelly with retiring volunteers Jim and Fiona Rutherford

Rainbow Turtle volunteers gathered recently to say goodbye to Fiona and Jim Rutherford. They started helping out at the shop at its beginning over 20 years ago! They are a bright friendly couple who were always welcoming to people coming in to browse or to shop.

Rainbow Turtle ceilidh 2017 with band Dlù.

They were passionate about fair trade and got involved our events. For many years they served on the board of trustees, with Jim as chairperson and Fiona as treasurer.

Volunteers’ gathering 2018

They are a talented couple both having worked many years as social workers in Inverclyde. Jim was also a beautiful singer and had organised many shows and musical events in Renfrewshire. He was probably best known as the creator of the play for the famous Renfrewshire Witch Project that remembered the Paisley witch hunt in 1697. The show was performed a number of times across Paisley town centre.

Jim and Fiona will be sorely missed, though I’m sure we’ll see them in the shop or at our events in the future.

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Volunteering at Rainbow Turtle

Last week we went along to the UWS Students’ Union for their annual Volunteering Fair. It was really great to speak to new students about what we do for Fair Trade in Paisley and how they can get involved. I hope we’ve picked up some new volunteers by going along, but at the very least we attracted some new customers to our lovely shop by showing off just some of the amazing products we sell which help producers and the environment.

But don’t worry – it’s not only students that we’re looking for as volunteers! Coming into the Christmas season we’ll be very busy and need lots of extra help so if you’d like a bit of retail experience in a laid-back, friendly environment, or you’re simply a supporter of the shop and want to help out even more then please get in touch. You can find out more about our volunteering opportunities here and we’d be delighted to hear from anyone, regardless of your previous experience or skills. Get in touch!