Trudi Davies The Politics Show South East

click here to view the Politics Show South East

Coffee: The drink that inspires?

We start the Politics Show with a question: What do lifeboats, extending ladders and public toilets have in common?

Answer: They were all invented over a cup of coffee.

In 1754 The Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) was founded in the coffee houses of London.

The caffeine fuelled debates developed into an early think tank and promising ideas were rewarded with cash to aid their practical development.

No doubt the drinking of so much coffee necessitated the invention of some sort of public convenience in Georgian London.

Many of the ideas and concepts, like the ladders and the lifeboats, were developed and later incorporated into everyday life.

In 2004, 250 years after its original launch, the RSA relaunched the Coffeehouse Challenge.

Two years on and it has already produced many award winning schemes including:

• a carbon neutral village
• a not for profit transport scheme based on cars fuelled by vegetable oil
• a range of healthy snacks

The Challenge brings people together in coffee houses and other local meeting places to discuss and develop practical solutions to issues facing their communities.

The informal debates are chaired by a mix of RSA Fellows (there are 25,000 of them) and personalities.

Each year the most innovative project ideas are awarded grants to make them a reality. In 2006 there will be �10,000 on the table.

This Sunday the South East Politics Show is joining with the RSA to launch the 2006 Coffeehouse Challenge.

What are the challenges facing the twenty first centuries coffee drinkers and thinkers?

In celebration of the Great British Caf� we have left the studio this week and will be live from the Pavilion Tea Rooms in Eastbourne - which just goes to show that you can drink tea in the Coffeehouse Challenge!

What would you like to discuss over a coffee?Email us via the link below or Text your opinion to 07786 209252 and we'll share your ideas with our audience

Fair-trade or fad?

One group that met for the first time two years ago provide our second story.

Clive and 10 other people sat down for a coffee and from their meeting the idea of making Eastbourne a fair-trade town was born.

This year they will be presenting their application.

We talk to them about how they met and what they have gained from the Challenge and we explore the politics behind the Fair-trade revolution.

David Cameron recently declared that from now on only Fair-trade tea and coffee will be served at Party HQ. Committed to challenging unfair trade or publicity savvy move?

He is not alone though, celebrities are queuing up to add their names to the Fair-trade bandwagon with Bono, Madonna and Sir Bob Geldorf all endorsing fairly traded goods.

Fair-trade started as a small charity 20 years ago but last year it became a global phenomenon with 1500 supermarket lines produced by 212 companies around the world.

Paul Siegert

But for all the talk of improving the lot of exploited farmers, is fair-trade genuinely bringing wealth to the poorest parts of the world or is it simply an easy conscience saver for the middle classes and a new marketing tool for the multi nationals?

Do you buy fair-trade? Do you think it makes a difference?Email us via the links below or Text your opinion to 07786 209252.

Email us: [email protected] or via the link below

The Politics Show South East

Join Paul Siegert on the Politics Show next week, Sunday 11 June 2006 at 12:00 on BBC One.

Disclaimer: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published.