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Our Investors

Our Loyal Investors

Our membership continues to diversify and includes faith groups, fairtrade partnerships, small businesses, schools and community organisations as well as individuals. 


Tracy's story

Tracy is married to Ian and lives in Lenzie with her daughter, Kara, who has been a Shared Interest investor since she was a baby. 

“As long as I can remember, I have been interested in environmental concerns and practical ways of helping others. It was while travelling in West Africa that I really saw the daunting scale of poverty and also some shining examples of pride and determination as people used their skills and resources to trade their way to a better life.

"A few years later I came across Shared Interest and I was immediately inspired. Here was an ethical organisation that wasn’t a charity and was simply asking me to invest some of my spare money until I needed it again. While this investment was with Shared Interest, it would be used to support fair trade. What a great idea, I thought – my money could be doing some good time and time again, and yet I can get it back if I need it.”

Richard's story

Richard has been an investor since Shared Interest was founded in 1990.

Richard said: “I became an investor 25 years ago, through my wife’s involvement in Traidcraft. We lived in Nairobi during the sixties because of my job as an architect, and saw the struggles people faced in making a living. We both liked the idea that trade could be fair as well as free. 

“You only have to read the quarterly newsletter to see how valuable it is to invest in small producers who may struggle to find finance elsewhere.”


Investing as a group

One World Shop started in 1983 when a small group of people came together to do something positive about trade justice to relieve poverty in developing countries.

Business Manager, Rachel Farey said: “Once the shop was set up, we began importing crafts from producers in Bangladesh and India. When we heard about Shared Interest we were keen to support an initiative that helps producer organisations get financial support. We now feel connected to a wider ethical community by being an investor. We like to read all of the fascinating stories, some of which feature the people who produce our products. If you can invest even a small amount, your money goes a long way – producers in the Global South have immeasurable challenges to overcome to make a living and benefit enormously from our support.”

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