Fairtrade orchard grows in Keighley
Oakworth Primary School where the first tree of the Fairtrade orchard was created on 15th May
Keighley is the latest town in Yorkshire working to achieve Fairtrade Town status. This comes after Yorkshire was declared the very first Fairtrade Region earlier this year.
Involving schools is key to a successful application for Fairtrade Town Status so Fairtrade Keighley has teamed up with Yorkshire based businesses fairandfunky and Small World to deliver an innovative new project: “Fairtrade Orchard”; across schools in Keighley.
fairandfunky (www.fairandfunky.com) is a Community Interest Company; empowering people to take little steps to change the world, through interactive and creative workshops on global themes to schools and community groups.
The project began on Saturday May 4th at Small World where members of the community are invited to join in a fairandfunky workshop: creating 6 trees from recycled materials.
Small World, based at 20 Russell Street, provides grass roots, participatory arts; bringing communities together through a variety of inclusive projects with young people from all over Keighley: www.smallworldkeighley.org
These trees will form the basis of the Fairtrade Orchard which will then be adorned with leaves, animals, plants and flowers in 5 schools across Keighley in the following weeks; culminating in a community event at The Airedale Shopping Centre in June.
During the schools workshops, fairandfunky will lead interactive discussions on Fairtrade issues and celebrate the work done by The Fairtrade Foundation to get a wide variety of Fairtrade products across the UK. Helen Robinson from fairandfunky said: “In our workshops children will learn about Fairtrade and the people involved in supply chains and will be encouraged to think about the world around them, all whilst being involved in creating something really special for the people of Keighley to be proud of!”
The 6 trees will come together to create a Fairtrade Orchard representing olive, banana, coffee, tea, lemon and cocoa farmers; and was inspired by the visit to Keighley of Palestinian Olive farmers during Fairtrade Fortnight. The orchard will be at The Bingley Show in July.
“This project will connect schools and businesses to Fairtrade,” said Richard Dillon, chair of the Fairtrade Keighley Steering Group, “It will showcase the commitment of Keighley to Fairtrade and enable us all to make positive actions right on our doorstep.”
The workshops have been made possible thanks to funding from the West Yorkshire Co-operative Area Committee; and the Keighley Town Council Oak Fund.
