A JOINT celebration marked a double anniversary for two of the town's campaign groups.

Justicia Fair World Shop and the Bolton World Development Movement held a party at St Andrew's and St George's United Reformed Church in St George's Road.

Mike Ash-Edwards, a senior campaign officer at Oxfam's Manchester office, congratulated Bolton WDM on "25 years of very active life".

He said: "It is an an outstanding achievement for a campaigning group to continue effective work for so long.

"The group, working closely with the Bolton Oxfam Campaigns team, has succeeded in keeping international issues, especially those of justice, peace, development and environment, in the minds of the people of Bolton.

" I commend the way the group had been open and outward-looking, willing to act in partnership with others to spread the message as widely as possible."

He read out a birthday card which had been sent from WDM Head Office.

Mike emphasised the hard work and dedication which had enabled Justicia, now with a shop at the top of Knowsley Street, to remain open for 15 years.

He said Oxfam knew how difficult it was to keep fair trade shops open.

A highlight of the party was a talk by the Rev Ben Humphries, former Vicar of Belmont, ex-chairman of Justicia and ex-WDM/Oxfam Group member.

He now works for Christian Aid in Preston, and took part in an epic cycle ride of 3,500 miles across America and Japan with other cyclists this summer.

They took the message of debt cancellation to communities all across America, by giving interviews, talks and performing a seven-minute version of 'The Merchant of Venice', which raised the question of whether a pound of flesh should be demanded from the debtors. Slides were shown which enabled the audience to share in the excitement of the journey, and the need for continued work to force the richest nations to cancel the debts of the poorest.

Two birthday cakes made from fairly-traded ingredients were cut by Justicia shop managers Margaret Johnston and Glynis Hardman, and campaign co-ordinators Chris Hodgkinson, from Oxfam, and Chris Cresswell, from WDM.

The party was rounded off with the launch of the Bolton Fair Trade Town Campaign, featured in the BEN two months ago.

Members share a long-term vision of vastly increasing Bolton awareness of the kind of 'Fair Trade' which enables some of those producers who otherwise would not get a living wage to receive a better reward for their work.

Many people at the party signed up for the campaign, committing themselves to join with others to promote fair trade.