The fairandfunky Fairtrade Football Fun Day welcomed Primary Schools from across Kirklees to Honley High School for an afternoon of football and Fairtrade focussed games, activities and co-operative learning.

All fairandfunky workshops encourage participants to look at the world around them and empower people of all ages with the knowledge that their actions can make a difference. This event focussed on Fairtrade, and students discovered throughout the event that you can make a difference with Fairtrade even as you play football!

All students were able to recognise the Fairtrade mark and spoke confidently about how

Fairtrade guarantees a fair price is paid to farmers. But how can a football be Fairtrade? It doesn’t grow on a farm?!

“It’s all about the people. That’s why. The Fairtrade mark shows a person, its paying people properly that makes a football Fairtrade.” Student from Wilberlee J&I School

Workshops led by fairandfunky enabled students to meet the people in Pakistan who make Fairtrade footballs for Bala Sports UK. They discovered that over 700 stitches go in to 1 football, and that the balls are stitched by hand, taking 4 hours to make. Students discovered the difference Fairtrade has made to communities; with Fairtrade premiums being invested in water sanitation and free eye tests.

Throughout the event students played football with balls made especially for fairandfunky, in Pakistan. It was very exciting to know exactly where the balls were from, and who made them!

With Nigel from Suma Wholefoods students played a game of ‘Un-fair football’ – the rules kept changing and it was only when the team played co-operatively together could they achieve success. Project Sport taught tricks for successful keepy-uppys and volunteers from Camira Fabrics held a ‘Beat The Banana Goalie’ competition! Successful goal scorers were rewarded with a fruit kebab thanks to Holmfirth Coop.

Children all over the world play football, but not everyone is able to afford to buy their own, so what do they use? They make their own footballs using rubbish! Students had a go at making their own football from plastic bags, newspaper and string. They soon discovered how hard it was, and spent time thinking about how hard people work to make the footballs they’d all been playing with. It’s important that workers are paid fairly, especially when you consider the amount of money generated in playing football. It’s time to play fair.

And that’s what all the schools who took part will be able to do. Thanks to sponsorship from Suma Wholefoods each school will be presented with Fairtrade footballs made especially for them – to play fair, and think fair.

www.fairandfunky.com

Burley Trojans under 10’s and their Bala football.

Bradford Fairtrade Zone has been busy raising awareness of Bala Fairtrade footballs by presenting footballs to a local school and several football teams in the Wharfe and Aire valleys.

Ilkley Town Veterans, Wharfedale Strollers walking footballers, Burley Trojans Under 10’s, Keighley walking footballers, and Burley and Woodhead Church of England Primary School made immediate use of their new footballs.

Karen Palframan, chair of Bradford Fairtrade Zone, showed the Burley and Woodhead School Council the latest Fairtrade Foundation football resource for schools, which follows the manufacturing process of Bala footballs in Sialkot, Pakistan, where 70% of the world’s hand stitched footballs are produced. Sialkot produces some 40 million footballs in an average year!

The children learned how Fairtrade helps to ensure that the workers are paid a fair wage, have safe working conditions and that there is no child labour. They also learned about some of the projects that the Bala workers have spent their Fairtrade premium funds on, which include eye tests and two community water filtration plants.

The School Council decided to organise an assembly about Fairtrade footballs and will use this activity to help the school on its journey to gain full Fairtrade school status. It gained ‘FairAware’ school status in January, and the staff have swapped over to using Fairtrade tea and coffee.

www.balasport.co.uk

During Fairtrade Fortnight, pre school children in Cherry Burton enjoyed their Fairtrade break.  Ros Stanley, from Cherry Burton Fairtrade Village steering group, spoke to the children and pre-school leader Claire Newton dressed in a Fairtrade banana suit.  Dave represented Tesco, who donated Fairtrade bananas for the break.

Baildon

Baildon Co-op, Northgate, hosted a Fairtrade stall to display Fairtrade items on sale in the store.  Customers were encouraged to try a different Fairtrade tea selected from Assam, Indian Prince and English Breakfast; all stocked by the Co-op.  The manager, Mark Millman, has also made up a hamper of Fairtrade goods as the prize for a quiz open to all, the winner being announced at the end of the Fortnight. 

Six pupils from Baildon Church of England Primary School assisted on the stall during the afternoon, enthusiastically engaging people in conversations about Fairtrade and justice.  They were also taken on a tour of the store to see what Fairtrade products were available and asked questions about why certain items were not Fairtrade certified. Their teacher, Mrs F Wilkinson, said that the children had enjoyed a stimulating afternoon.  The school is working towards Fairtrade status and hosted a Fairtrade Coffee Morning on Friday 10th March for parents/carers of children in Year 5.  The children had baked Fairtrade goodies, and were very keen to explain Fairtrade to the adults who attended.

Bradford Cathedral

On Sunday March 5th, approximately 40 adults and children enjoyed a Fairtrade Breakfast at Bradford Cathedral, during Fairtrade Fortnight. their children to school. We enjoyed a breakfast that included Fairtrade muesli, jam, marmalade, chocolate spread, homemade muffins, tea, coffee, hot chocolate and orange juice. At the same time, we gave our support to local businesses by enjoying locally produced bread, butter, honey and milk. In the service that followed the Breakfast, the children led the prayers, ‘that those who teach about justice and trading in our schools may look for new ways to share their interest in breaking the cycle of poverty so that children will know about the need for fairness in trade’.

Ilkley

Ilkley Fairtrade Group members and Ilkley Oxfam Manager with the Sanctuary’s window

Over the last few weeks, the Sanctuary team in Ilkley, including artist Barbara Macnish, have been pouring hours into preparing what we think may even be the world’s first piece of art painted on tea-bags! It was all done for love; we wanted to help thousands of people think about the people who really bring them their tea, and to consider choosing Fairtrade as a result.

Halifax Minster opened its doors to school children from 9 schools across Halifax on Friday 13th May, to celebrate World Fairtrade Day at a fairandfunky Fairtrade Conference for Schools.

The event is part of the campaign, spearheaded by Holly Lynch MP, to achieve Fairtrade Town status for Halifax; “The campaign to make Halifax a Fairtrade town includes our schools,” Holly Lynch MP explains, “the conference was a great way to start conversations with our young people about Fairtrade and how we can give a helping hand, through trade rather than aid, to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.”

Agents of change in Halifax Minster

Four different workshops invited delegates to ‘Stand up for farmers and be Agents of Change’ and students spent the day learning about Fairtrade and producers in Ghana, Columbia and Bolivia.

With Pockets Theatre students used dramatic performance to explore the affect of supermarket price wars on banana producers. Each child took part in short role-play provoking an emotional response to Fairtrade; discovering the power of the consumer.

In the fairandfunky workshop delegates were taken on a journey from bean to bar – discovering life as a cocoa farmer in Ghana and how important Fairtrade is to their community. Participants also learnt how to use ALL their senses to ‘taste’ delicious Divine Chocolate.

“I learnt that Fairtrade is very important and benefits farmers globally.” Charlotte

“I learnt that Fairtrade is good thing and that everyone can benefit, more people should be involved!” Matthew

With Liberation Nuts students learnt lots of interesting facts about nuts, the people who farm them, and discovered that Brazil nuts actually come from Bolivia!

In the Sea Pie Parcel workshop students learnt a specially written song for the conference: ‘Be An Agent For Change’ and composed their own pieces inspired by Fairtrade products. At the end of the day ALL students gathered to sing together in the beautiful setting of the Minster. To hear all compositions and the song please listen here:

The conference closed with certificate presentations from Holly Lynch MP who encouraged delegates to continue taking their own little steps to change the world with Fairtrade. And each student AND teacher left with a Fairtrade goody bag filled with treats from Divine Chocolate, Tropical Wholefoods, Liberation Nuts and smoothies from Natural Beverages Comapany – aiming to keep Fairtrade conversations going back at school and at home.

“An informative, enjoyable and interesting day, thank you!” Barkisland Primary School.

The conference also links local businesses with Fairtrade, welcoming Suma Wholefoods as a Conference Partner, “We strongly believe in Fairtrade at Suma and we’re keen to help spread the word so were delighted with the opportunity to support the fairandfunky conference and educate the young of Calderdale.” Nigel Kaye, Co-op member at Suma Wholefoods.

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. ”

View/download the competition poster

WIN a fairandfunky workshop and a Divine Chocolate Fundraising pack for your school!

A new competition from fairandfunky invites Primary Schools across Yorkshire to create an A4 poster, using Divine Chocolate packaging, on the theme ‘Fairtrade for The Future.’

The winning design in each category (KS1 and KS2) will win a fairandfunky workshop, AND a Divine Chocolate fundraising kit, as well as a hamper for the individual artist.

Each poster must include Divine Chocolate packaging. Packs including enough for a whole class to take part are available here: http://www.fairandfunky.com/fairtrade-online-shop/resources/ for a nominal postage fee.

We look forward to seeing the winning designs. Good luck!

One of the first Fairtrade schools in Kirklees: Holme Junior and Infant School are putting together their application for Fairtrade Status renewal, and launched their campaign with a Fairtrade Coffee Afternoon for the parents and the community at the start of the new school term.

The children at Holme School know a lot about Fairtrade and were involved in every stage of the event; Reception children designed and decorated Fairtrade themed bunting, Key Stage 2 children designed brilliant posters to promote the event around the community. Working with the school cook, Class One made the cakes and biscuits for the event and proudly described the Fairtrade ingredients to visiting parents.

Throughout the afternoon parents were welcomed into busy Fairtrade focussed classrooms and invited to create the Fairtrade logo for themselves using recycled materials, or take part in a Geography activity to map Fairtrade or even use the school iPads for market research into the major supermarkets commitment to Fairtrade.

Alongside the Fairtrade refreshments the students and teachers were joined by fairandfunky with a pop-up shop to launch their rice challenge. Year 6 children helped on the fairandfunky pop-up shop, selling Fairtrade gifts to fellow students and parents using impressive mental maths as their customers all clamoured for attention at the same time!

Fairtrade is embedded into life at the school from the cups of tea in the staff room, ingredients in the school kitchen, to the footballs used by the children at playtime. Fairtrade rice and chocolate packaging is used to teach art, and Fairtrade chocolate becomes a focus for cross curricular learning with Class 2. “We’re a small school making a big difference,” says head teacher Mrs Anne Swain, “our strong links with local and global communities really enrich children’s experiences. We’re very excited to have Fairtrade at the heart of our learning in this way.”

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.”

For the past 3 years Fairtrade Rotherham have organised a Rotherham Primary Schools’ Fairtrade Poster Competition and have held a celebration evening for the prize winners, those highly commended, parents, school staff & Fairtrade Steering Committee members.

This year, some of the entries have been made up into a public art work as part of Rotherham’s ‘Gallery Town’ project.  The Fairtrade posters have been collated by Rainforest Graphics ino a montage and this work is now on public display on the wall of Rotherham’s Town Centre Market.  On the bottom of the art work are some words  from the steering committee naming the participating schools and thanking them for helping to spread the Fairtrade message.