Fairtrade Fortnight ran from 29th February to 13th March and involved a lot of early mornings as the theme for this year was breakfast. The Fairtrade Foundation reminded us of the words of Martin Luther King; ‘before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world.’

Over 500 events were held throughout Yorkshire to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight.  The Fortnight in Yorkshire was officially launched in York with an al fresco breakfast held outside of St. Michael Le Belfrey Church, adjacent to York Minster.  The Lord Mayor of York attended alongside Fairtrade supporters from across Yorkshire.

The theme of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight focussed on issues of food security. Millions of farmers and workers who are feeding the world are themselves going hungry. Fairtrade means farmers and workers can fulfil a human right we can often take for granted –putting food on the table.

The Church of England super Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales has voted to work to become a Fairtrade Diocese.

A vote was taken at the Diocesan Synod on March 12th.

Synod members enthusiastically supported a motion to work towards becoming a Fairtrade Diocese by writing to all churches asking them, where not already registered, to register as a Fairtrade Church.  A letter will also be sent to all Church of England schools asking them, if not already registered, to register as a Fairtrade school – and a Fairtrade steering group will be set up to steer the registration of the Diocese as a Fairtrade Diocese.

The motion was put by Ven Bev Mason, Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven, pictured left with Kay Brown, Chaplain of Abbey Grange School who talked about the way schools can imaginatively adopt Fairtrade status.

The vote follows a campaign by Fairtrade supporters including: Barbara Judd, Heather Grinton and Rev Tina Walker who have worked hard to raise the profile of Fairtrade across the Diocese. Rev Tina said that she was ‘absolutely delighted and thrilled’ by the result of the Synod vote.

Peter Beetlestone, of Fairtrade Holme Valley, shares with us his experience of ‘storming Parliament’ when bravely he ventures to the South of England and the Houses of Parliament in London:

On March 1st 12 members of Fairtrade Holme Valley and 12 pupils from Honley High School went to Parliament to help launch the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) for Fairtrade.

Helen Robinson and Sophie Bebb, of Fairtrade Holme Valley, have supported Holly Lynch (Labour, MP for Halifax) and Jason McCartney (Conservative, MP for Colne Valley) to set up this parliamentary group whose aim is “to promote Fairtrade within Parliament; to deepen the relationship between local Fairtrade organisations and parliamentarians and to further raise awareness of the importance of Fairtrade.”

When we arrived we were treated to a mini tour of Parliament by Jason McCartney MP. We were given passes to hear the emergency debate on Syria from the Public Gallery, we went on the terrace with fantastic views of the Thames and the buildings along the waterfront, we met Boris Johnson and David Blunkett (I nearly fell over his dog on the stairs).

At the two hour launch in the Jubilee Room we were joined by 37 MPs, representatives from the Fairtrade Foundation (including Tim Aldred), representatives from the Co-operative Group (including Kerry Stower, the store Manager in Holmfirth) and many others.

Over a Big All Day Breakfast (the theme for this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight) there were short speeches from Holly and Jason, from Helen, from the Secretary of State for International Development, from Mike Gidney (Chief Executive of the Fairtrade Foundation), from Brad Hill (Fairtrade Strategy Manager for the Co-op) and most importantly from Patrick (a tea farmer from Kenya) and Julio (a banana farmer from Columbia).

The two farmers spoke very movingly about how Fairtrade had brought great benefits to their families and their communities. One of the pupils said afterwards “he made me want to cry.” They made us all realise how important it is to keep promoting Fairtrade – supporting people to work their way out of poverty.

Peter Beetlestone, Fairtrade Holme Valley

ILKLEY SERVES UP MOOR FAIRTRADE

Collaboration was the order of the day on Saturday 5th March when Ilkley Fairtrade Group, Ilkley Soroptimists and local Girlguiding Rombalds District leaders organised an outdoor four hour ‘Big Fairtrade Breakfast’ event at Ilkley bandstand. Free Fairtrade hot chocolate, orange and apple juice were on offer, as well as freshly cooked pancakes with a range of Fairtrade toppings.

Ben Rhydding Community Choir

The drinks, bananas and pancake ingredients were kindly donated by the Co-op, M&S, Booths, Tesco and Greggs. There was a rolling programme of bandstand entertainment featuring The White Rose Chorus, Ben Rhydding Primary School choir, Ben Rhydding Community Choir, Leeds Briggate Morris dancers and a local saxophonist. Traidcraft items were on sale and the Ilkley Co-op manager raffled a hamper of Co-op Fairtrade goods. £400 was raised from breakfast donations and the hamper raffle, and was sent to a Fairtrade project in Kenya helping women earn an independent income from coffee farming. The funds went to this specific project to mark International Women’s Day and highlight the work that Fairtrade does to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Two local churches organised Fairtrade breakfasts during Fairtrade Fortnight, and Ilkley Fairtrade Group had one of the community stalls at the inaugural ‘Real Food Ilkley’ market on Sunday 6th March. The new market was a great success and provided the opportunity to explain how Fairtrade and local go hand in hand, helping support farmers both near and far.
Karen Palframan, Ilkley Fairtrade Group

BAILDON BIG FAIRTRADE BREAKFAST

More than 60 Fairtrade breakfasts were served in St John’s Church Hall, Baildon, on Saturday 19 March. Children from the uniformed groups had decorated paper plates with a Fairtrade breakfast and these were hung along Fairtrade bunting around the hall. Tables were set with Fairtrade products donated by the Co-op, marmalade made by members, and locally produced milk and butter.

Naturally some children brought along their parents to see their plates and a warm welcome was provided. All expressed their pleasure in the breakfast and seven people expressed an interest in joining the local Fairtrade group.

This event was also an opportunity for Baildon Friends of the Earth and Fairtrade Group to work together to communicate our shared concern for the world-wide issue of sustainability – protecting the environment and tackling climate change. A superb display on Fairtrade and the Sustainability Goals was on show as well as a Fairtrade stall.

Thanks to the generosity of the Co-op, Baildon Fairtrade Group has been able to send £160 to the Traidcraft Exchange fund. An enjoyable and successful event raised funds to support producer projects around the world.

BRADFORD CATHEDRAL CELEBRATES FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT
SUNDAY MARCH 6th

With sunlight streaming through the West Window, 54 people sat down to enjoy a Fairtrade Breakfast, as well as locally produced milk, butter, bread and honey.

Following the morning Eucharist service, the Lord Mayor, Councillor Joanne Dodds, cut a Fairtrade chocolate cake to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Bradford Fairtrade Zone. The Lord Mayor endorsed the decision of the Council meeting on 19th January this year, when it was overwhelmingly agreed that Bradford Council should renew the commitment to Fairtrade.

BIG FAIRTRADE BREAKFAST
HELD BY BRADFORD FAIRTRADE ZONE and M&S
29th Feb. 2016

Business and community leaders met for a networking and information Fairtrade breakfast hosted by M&S in their Broadway store café. Presentations on Fairtrade and the Bradford Fairtrade Zone were given by Mike de Villiers and Karen Palframan, and the commitment of M&S to support, through Fairtrade, their producer communities was given by Chris Farren, M&S operations manager. Councillor Adrian Farley, the leader of a renewed commitment by Bradford M.D.C. to support Fairtrade and Bradford Fairtrade Zone, expressed his pleasure at the success of the venture in raising awareness at a venue in the city centre.

Watch the Fairtrade Fortnight video from M&S.

Baildon Fairtrade Town Stall in Northgate Co-op, Baildon, West Yorks, Friday March 4th.

A Fairtrade Breakfast display and samples of chocolate engaged shoppers to discuss the benefits of Fairtrade. As well as signing up to hold their own Fairtrade Breakfast, many shoppers came back to the stall to show us what Fairtrade products they had purchased for the first time. We registered 645 Fairtrade Breakfasts, the number including many shoppers who would be having a Fairtrade Breakfast each morning for the rest of the Fortnight.

Faith leaders were leading the way at Leeds’ Merrion Centre on Thursday 3rd March with the holding of a Fairtrade breakfast.

The Breakfast table looked very festive, with the banners and balloons and lots of shoppers paused to see what was going on.

There was a display of Fairtrade items for sale from the local Morrisons and also a display of Fairtrade items from the Beehive, the local Fairtrade shop.
Leaders from all faiths in Leeds were invited.  Amongst the attendees pictured are Bishop Paul Slater, Esther Hugenholtz, Krystal Holms, Gurmukh Singh, Usha Bhardwaj, Mr Birdi and Ashraf Hamad. It was lovely for everyone to mix and chat and at the same time have a grand breakfast.

Children have also been taking a lead in Leeds.

Schools from across West Yorkshire celebrated Fairtrade by designing and delivering their own workshops at a special event at Leeds Civic Hall on Friday March 4th.

The event, organised by Leeds Development Education Centre and Fairtrade Leeds is part of a wider national programme which aims to raise awareness of the millions of farmers and workers struggling to feed themselves and their families, while supplying our breakfast tables with food and drink, such as bananas, cocoa and coffee.

Fabian Hamilton MP presented schools with Global Learning Charter certificates, for work on valuing Global Learning within school. Greg Mulholland MP presented Bala footballs to students from local schools and then gave a short speech in which he encouraged local sports teams, such as Leeds Rhinos to use Fairtrade sports equipment. Greg congratulated Fairtrade as an organisation for branching out beyond food to other sustainable products, such as the Fairtrade footballs and Rugby balls.

Last week Greg highlighted the importance of Fairtrade Fortnight in the House of Commons by tabling an Early Day Motion (EDM 1137) welcoming Fairtrade Fortnight 2016.

Commenting, Greg Mulholland MP said:

“I really enjoyed attending this fantastic event, which was very well organised by Leeds Development Education Centre. It is important that young people especially are encouraged to learn about Fairtrade produce and where their food comes from. As the consumers of the future, they have the power to change Britain’s buying habits.

It is terrible that the people we all depend on to grow food are not able to feed themselves and their families. Fairtrade do excellent work supporting these people, but more must be done to support the hundreds of millions of people going hungry across the world.”

Also commenting on the event, Hannah Langdana of the Leeds Development Education centre said:

“It was a fantastic event with children from across the city creating and delivering wonderful, hands on workshops on Fairtrade . It is another important step in making Leeds a Child Friendly City, where awareness about children’s rights locally and globally is raised. ”