Nigel Mills, Sharon Clay, Lee-Ann Williams and Chris King of the Hull Fairtrade City Steering Group.

Hull Fairtrade City has been going from strength to strength in the past year.  The Fairtrade Steering Group has been successfully relaunched and the city has had its Fairtrade City status renewed with glowing comment from the Fairtrade Foundation.

Hull Fairtrade City enjoys the support of Hull and East Yorkshire Community Foundation, Hull City Council, Hull and East Riding Greenshare Network and the University of Hull.

Coordinator of Fairtrade Hull, Nigel Mills was delighted by the group’s success.  Last year Hull welcomed Fairtrade banana farmer, Aimeth from Columbia, with a school summit at Malet Lambert School and an event at the University of Hull which was attended by the Lord Mayor.  The status renewal form details many exciting plans for the next two years which should see Fairtrade Hull go up to the next level.

Bradford College’s Student Parliament has passed a Fairtrade Motion which now sees the college well on its way to gaining Fairtrade College status.

Members of Bradford College Students’ Union celebrate the successful vote.

This took place on 5th March during Fairtrade Fortnight.

The vote was taken in the college’s new state of the art David Hockney building.  Following the vote, a presentation was given with speeches from the College’s Group Chief Operating Officer, Gareth Osborne and Linda McAvan MEP.  The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Bradford also attended the presentation.

The Fairtrade Matters film was shown and then questions were taken by the Associate Director of the movie, Andy Powell.

President of the Students’ Union, Fatima Sohail, with the Lady Mayoress and Lord Mayor.

Fairtrade Bradford Coordinator, Karen Palframan, gave heartfelt thanks to the college for its support in the promotion of Fairtrade in the city.

For the afternoon of the 5th the Fairtrade Matters movie was shown on the giant screen in the city’s Centenary Square.

Fairtrade Holme Valley enjoyed the sweet taste of success as their new website was launched at a special event on 27th February.  Held at the town’s Soul Kitchen, the web launch was attended by supporters from across the valley.  The event also crossed the political divide with attendance from both Linda McAvan MEP and Jason McCartney MP.

Soulful: Holme folk at the Soul Kitchen

Helen Robinson, Chair of the Fairtrade Group, talked everyone through the new site and spoke of the achievements that have been made in the promotion of Fairtrade in the valley in the past few years.  There has been great success in engaging local businesses and this was evident in Holmfirth during Fairtrade Fortnight when many of the businesses displayed Fairtrade posters.  Some even displayed inflatable Fairtrade bananas, one of which mysteriously disappeared, but following wide media coverage across the Holme Valley was soon recovered.

Check out the Holme Valley website

Haxby chocolate tasters and the winner of the ‘guess the weight of the Fairtrade chocolate cake’ competition.

York Fair Trade Forum held a chocolate tasting at the Aroma Fairtrade Cafe in Haxby.  Needless to say, it was very popular.  Attendees at the event on 5th March enjoyed a wide variety of Divine Chocolate products.  Completing tasting notes, the guests had to guess the flavours in the chocolate which ranged from toffee apple, to pear and ginger and even sea salt!  If this were not enough, the Yorkies then enjoyed a vast array of Fairtrade cakes.

The Fairtrade Foundation film, Fairtrade Matters was shown.  Following the lives of tea growers in Malawi, it reminded everyone of the difference that Fairtrade makes to the lives of producers and why its important to buy Fairtrade products and demand that our retailers sell them.

Armonia perform at the Fairtrade Fortnight event at York’s City Screen Basement Bar

York’s citizens also had a chance to see the film earlier on in Fairtrade Fortnight when an event of “Films, Facts and Fairtrade Fortnight Frivolities” was held at the Basement Bar at the City Screen Cinema. The Tour de Fairtrade Yorkshire film was also shown, between music from The Spectacles, Armonia and Penny and the Poppet and a quiz.

Fairtrade Skipton put up a huge sign to announce Fairtrade Fortnight to the town’s many shoppers.  The banner was hung in front of Holy Trinity church which occupies an elevated position above the High Street; so it was impossible to miss.

On the horizon: Skipton’s new banner

During the Fortnight Skipton’s Fairtrade group held a successful film evening at Skipton Girls’ High School.  ‘The People and the Olive’ a film about Palestinian olive growers was shown, together with the Fairtrade short movie ‘Fairtrade Matters’ which features tea growers from Malawi and how Fairtrade has helped them to improve life in their communities.

Roger of the Beehive shop serves customers at the Fair Trade Fair

The University of Leeds held its annual Fair Trade Fair on Tuesday 3rd March in Parkinson Court.  The event was a great success drawing in large numbers of students and staff who were able to sample, and purchase, a wide range of Fair Trade products.  There were stalls from many businesses including the Beehive Shop, Fairer World, Oxfam and Zaytoun, the Fair Trade Palestinian olive and olive oil producers.

Children from 22 schools across Leeds came together to lead activities on Fairtrade, Sweatshops and Recycling at a special celebration at Leeds Civic Hall last Friday. The children used Peer Education Toolkits put together by Leeds DEC; activities designed especially for children to lead with other children.

Councillor Jane Dowson and Paul Brennan (Dept Director of Learning, Skills and Universal Services at Leeds City Council) gave out certificates to reward schools for their commitment to learning about global issues, including Fairtrade.

“It was a superb event with children teaching each other about how we are connected to other people around the world, and how buying Fairtrade products ensures that people are paid a fair amount for their work” said organiser Hannah Langdana. “When I asked the teachers what they found useful about the event one of them said ‘the films and peer workshops; showing children in action as agents of change’ ”

One of the children said “I’ve learnt that banana workers only receive 1p out of 30p. I feel glad that there are so many people involved in Fairtrade, and are making things a bit fairer.”