Fairtrade Holme Valley storms Parliament
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
