A KENYAN tea farmer, who came to Wiltshire to talk about the importance of Fairtrade products, has been hailed as an inspiration in Calne.

Patrick Kaberia, who flew to the county as part of Fairtrade Fortnight, enlightened business owners and residents about the work of Fairtrade producers and the effect the campaign has on their lives at Calne Town Hall on Saturday.

Stan Woods, of the Calne Community Area Fairtrade Group, said: "We had a lot of people come for the talk and Patrick was excellent. He was a very inspiring speaker and he kept everyone's imagination going for about half an hour.

"Patrick said he had come to a beautiful place but looking at some of the photos he showed, Kenya still looks pretty good! Of course, they have to work a lot harder there and as Patrick said, tea alone doesn't just meet his requirements. They have to do so much more in order to live."

Mayor Tom Rounds formally welcomed Mr Kaberia to the town, while the Fairtrade Group hosted a number of stalls.

"It definitely surpassed all expectations and we have never really done anything like this in Calne before," Mr Woods added. "I had a couple of emails from people after the talk who wanted to join the mailing lists and lots of people there were enthusiastic."

The Fairtrade Group, who want to actively engage with the town council in making Calne a Fairtrade town following the May elections, are also looking to work with schools and businesses.

For more information about Calne Fairtrade visit www.calnexion.org.uk/fairtrade.