Category Archives: News

Proud To Be Members Of BAFTS

We are now proud members of BAFTS – The British Association for Fair Trade Shops & Suppliers. An organisation where the members work to bring about changes in the status of developing world producers through Fair Trade retailing, campaigning, sharing ideas and best practices.
Membership is awarded to shops and suppliers that adhere to the ‘Ten principles of Fair Trade‘ laid out by World Fair Trade Organisation.

Principle One: Creating Opportunities for Economically Disadvantaged Producers
Principle Two: Transparency and Accountability
Principle Three: Fair Trading Practices
Principle Four: Payment of a Fair Price
Principle Five: Ensuring no Child Labor and Forced Labor
Principle Six: Commitment to Non Discrimination, Gender Equity and Freedom of Association
Principle Seven: Ensuring Good Working Conditions
Principle Eight: Providing Capacity Building
Principle Nine: Promoting Fair Trade
Principle Ten: Respect for the Environment

You can find out more about the ten principles from WFTO.

To learn more about BAFTS and their aims and objectives from their website.

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day from Wild Thing Toys everyone!

Even though earth day is every day, it’s nice to have one day every person on earth has in common wherever you come from or whatever your background is. A day we can all contemplate and think about making some sustainable choices and appreciate this planet that gives us so much.

Whatever you’re doing today have a great day!

 

earth day

Five Fave Books For Kids

Happy international women’s day!

In celebration of women everywhere here are five favourite motivational books for young children.


Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World
by Kate Pankhurst

An enchanting book with beautiful illustrations of strong female role model’s through history.

Ideal for ages 4-10 years.



Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words
by Karen Leggett Abouraya (Author)

The inspiring, story of Malala Yousafzai, a young girl from Pakistan who stands up and speaks out for every child’s right to education. The book is well written l so children can understand the facts, which are dealt with in an age appropriate way. 

Recommended age is 4-7 years.



Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky

This book is brimming with the stories of 50 amazing women who made their mark in science, some not so familiar, who have brought important facts and information to our lives.

Recommended age is 8-12 years.



Maya Angelou (Little People, Big Dreams) by Lisbeth Kaiser

From the ‘Little People, Big Dreams’ series, this book follows Maya Angelou, from her early traumatic childhood to her career, civil rights campaigning and eventually, one of America’s most loved writers.

Recommended age is 5-8 years.



Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women by Catherine Thimmesh

A super inspirational book full of interesting stories and fact about women and girls doing great things and invented ingenious innovations that have made our lives simpler and better.

Recommended age is 10-12 years.

Happy World Book Day

Happy world book day from us at Wild Thing Toys!

We don’t sell books here but we know that little readers make great leaders, or at least have an open heart and mind and hopefully a lifelong passion for reading.

 

 

Below  are some of our favourite book quotes:

 

A book is a device to ignite the imagination. – Alan Bennett

A book is a dream that you hold in your hand. – Neil Gaiman

A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul. – Franz Kafka

A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking. – Jerry Seinfield

A first book has some of the sweetness of a first love. – Robert Aris Willmott

A good book has no ending. – R.D. Cumming

A house without books is like a room without windows. – Heinrich Mann

A room without books is like a body without a soul. – Marcus Tullius Cicero

A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it. – Samuel Johnson

Books are a uniquely portable magic. – Stephen King

Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time. – E.P. Whipple

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house. – Henry Ward Beecher

Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind. – James Russell Lowell

Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home. – Anna Quindlen

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers. – Charles William Eliot

Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own. – William Hazlitt

Books were my pass to personal freedom. – Oprah Winfrey

Children are made readers on the laps of their parents. – Emilie Buchwald

Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. – Mark Twain

I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book. – Groucho Marx

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. – Jorge Luis Borges

If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. – Toni Morrison

My best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read. – Abraham Lincoln

My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. – Thomas Helm

Never judge a book by its movie. – J.W. Eagan

No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance. – Confucius

No matter what his rank or position may be, the lover of books is the richest and the happiest. – J.A. Langford

Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. – Harry S. Truman

Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. – Frederick Douglass

One of the joys of reading is the ability to plug into the shared wisdom of mankind. – Ishmael Reed

Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape. – Nora Ephron

Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. – Joseph Addison

Reading takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere. – Hazel Rochman

Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you. – Harold Bloom

So many books, so little time. – Frank Zappa

The books that help you the most are those which make you think the most. – Theodore Parker

The first time I read an excellent book, it is to me just as if I had gained a new friend. – Oliver Goldsmith

The greatest gift is a passion for reading. – Elizabeth Hardwick

The love of books is a love which requires neither justification, apology, nor defense. – J.A. Langford

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. – Dr. Seuss

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. – Jane Austen

The wise man reads both books and life itself. – Lin Yutang

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. – Saint Augustine

The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. – Clarence Shepard Day

There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all. – Jacqueline Kennedy

There is no friend as loyal as a book. – Ernest Hemingway

There’s so much more to a book than just the reading. – Maurice Sendak

To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark. – Victor Hugo

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader. – Margaret Fuller

What is reading but silent conversation? – Walter Savage Landor

When you sell a man a book you don’t sell him just 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue – you sell him a whole new life. – Christopher Morley

Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. –Vera Nazarian

You cannot open a book without learning something. – Confucius

You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. – Paul Sweeney

 

New Doll And Soft Toy Sewing Kits

We are very excited about our new creative play sewing kits! Learn to sew and make your very own beautiful soft toy or doll. This sewing kit includes everything you need to make a cute toy. Can be hand or machine sewn. A perfect project for learning how to sew by hand or the first steps in to using a sewing machine. The fabric panel also contains a mini toy. Designs include some lovely international dolls and some woodland animals.

Buy kits here

 

As Seen In Mollie Makes

Look what’s been spotted in this months (issue 76) Mollie Makes magazine – our very own fair trade mushroom rattles.

We love Mollie Makes magazine, its jam packed with oodles of super creative craft ideas and projects within its beautifully styled pages.

 

 

Our fair trade rattles as seen in Mollie Makes magazine. See image 10.

Interview with ‘Trusted Clothes’ magazine

Here’s my interview with the awesome ‘Trusted Clothes’ magazine, an organisation that promotes ethical and sustainable fashion for the conscious consumer:

 

 

 

‘AN INTERVIEW WITH FEHMIDA SHAH OF WILD THINGS TOYS’

‘Wild Thing Toys was founded by Fehmida Ibrahim Shah. She has worked with various social and educational movements and is passionate about supporting a fair trade business models. She started Wild things toys that inspire imagination and play. This is her story.

Tell us about family background – geography, culture, language, and religion.

My name is Fehmida Ibrahim Shah, I was born in the UK, of Indian heritage, and live in London with my three children and a selection of pets.

Tell us about your story – education, prior work, and so on?

I have never really stuck to a career path as such, and have almost always accidently fell in to various fields, from being a florist, to teaching, and working in the social housing sector.

I have studied floristry, then building construction & social housing at Middlesex University and then have gone on to study design & textiles. I am presently studying Near East Archaeology.

How did you get interested in ethical and sustainability?

As far as I can remember, as a family, we were taught the values of having respect for other people, for animals, and for the planet. We were taught that the earth was precious and we were the guardians of it. Even though the terms ‘ethical’ and ‘ecofriendly’ were not used when I was young, recycling and repurposing was something that was instilled in to us. My parents were both keen gardeners and I remember endless days helping them grow flowers, fruits and vegetable, using novel pest free sustainable methods.

The turning point of when I knew I wanted to do something ethical came about when I did some voluntary work with children in the West Bank. I observed the teachers in the summer play camp making toys out of scraps of paper and bits of cloth. I marveled at their ingenuity and their ability to create something wonderful with minimum wastage.

Baby rattles by Wild Things Toys

I started a business creating paper goods whereby everything was made by either sustainable paper or completely wood free.

After running my business for a number of years, I wanted to do something else as well. Having admired the fair trade movement for a long time, it motivated me to start a business that had a completely fair trade business model.

I wanted to create a product made by someone whose life would have improved because of it. This is where my soft toy business ‘Wild Thing Toys’ came in.

What seems like the importance of fair trade?

Fair Trade has a hugely positive impact on the lives of workers and their families. It raises the standards of living for the workers and also their communities.  As well as a living wage, the communities can invest in much needed projects, such as schools and health centres. Fair trade gives people opportunities that give them more control over their lives. Why shouldn’t someone from another country have the opportunities that you and I have?

Fair trade is also empowering for women. Women often face harassment and discrimination within factories and places of work around the world. Working under fair trade standards, they have protection and gender equality. Fair trade can help women to reach their full potential by making available opportunities they did not have before, such as education, leadership roles and entrepreneurship programs. They can also work within their own village and community for a decent wage and under good conditions, without having to travel to the major cities and leave their families behind.

What seems like the importance of a (relative to the country) living wage?

The minimum wage set by some countries fall short of what can be deemed as a living wage. The reality being, these workers struggle to survive on these wages whilst making products for us to consume. When a company does not provide a living wage in the poorest countries, it essentially pushes out the weakest people in the supply chain.

These workers may be forced to take on additional low paid jobs under appalling conditions and send their children to work instead of school. This keeps them indefinitely stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty.

All Wild Things soft toys and dolls are made from hand loomed cotton and environmentally friendly and child safe dyes. All products are also CE tested to EN71 and are safe for children.

A living wage, on the other hand should be enough to meet the basic needs such as food, water, housing, health care, education, clothing, transportation and child care, consequently giving the workers a chance to live a decent life, which we would all agree, is a human right.

A business who manufactures and uses a workforce would expect a high quality of goods being produced.  The workers should also expect a good wage for the work they have done.

Workers that are happy and motivated are more likely to be more productive and take less time off due to sickness, which would be beneficial for the business too.

What is Wild Things Toys?

At Wild Thing toys we create heirloom quality soft toys which are all fair trade certified. Our soft toys are made from handloomed cotton made in a traditional way which is centuries old.

All the workers are paid a decent wage, work in safe and healthy working conditions, and have access to other benefits such as health checks and education projects. Employment takes place in rural villages, so the artisans do not need to travel miles leaving their families behind to work in large factories, therefore benefiting the whole community.

Our soft toys and dolls are certified by the World Fair Trade Organisation.

What are some of its feature products?

Simple natural toys with minimum features that inspire a child to imagine the countless possibilities, as opposed to the toy thinking for the child. Wild Thing Toys are made to last and to be passed on for many years to come.

Handmade and eco friendly Fox doll by Wild Things Toys. All dolls are made without beaded eyes, everything is made from fabric and stitched or embroidered on. Therefore you can be rest assured that all our toys are not only super adorable, but made to the highest safety standard.

Who grows, harvests, designs, and manufactures the products of Wild Things Toys?

The products are designed by me and from then on, I work closely with the handloom organisation Selyn, who make the toys for me. The fabric is woven using yarn which is dyed with AZO-free, ecofriendly dyes. A wastewater plant treatment ensures that the environment is protected at the same time. This waste water is treated and re used in the gardens to grow vegetables. We work closely with our partners, who are the only certified fair trade hand loom organisation in Sri Lanka. Most of the work is done in rural areas, where jobs for women are limited. The working mothers here also have the benefit of a day care facility while they work.

All wild things toys are fair trade certified

What is the customer base – the demographics?

Currently my fair trade soft toys are sold in the UK and worldwide via online shops.

What topics most interest you?

Surface textile design, historical textiles and archaeology. I have a keen interest in the lifestyle of past cultures and civilizations, and what we can learn from them. I am also interested in current ethical Issues.

What personal fulfillment comes from this work for you?

I feel blessed to be able to do a job that I love. The gratification comes from being able to create a design and see it made in to a product with the knowledge that the person who has made the product for me, also has a decent job with good wages.

Any other work at this time?

I am still running my paper goods business, I like to get involved with book donation projects for children. I am also presently studying Archaeology.

Any recommended means of contacting you?

You can contact me via my website www.wildthingtoys.com.

What philosophy makes most sense of life to you?

Real success is not about the attainment of wealth; rather it is about the quality of life you create for others and the peace of mind you attain for yourself.

Any feelings or thoughts in conclusion based on the conversation today?

I feel delighted that my business was included amongst all the other likeminded ethical businesses. I hope your interviews will encourage others in to taking their first step in to fair trade and sustainability.

Thank you for your time, Fehmida.

Thank you Scott.

 

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