Fairtrade Yorkshire

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.

The Church of England Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales – which covers Huddersfield, Wakefield, Leeds, Bradford and Ripon – is running a poster competition open to anyone living in the diocese.

Simply design an A4 poster in any medium advertising Fairtrade chocolate or Fairtrade cocoa.

Certificates & Fairtrade Easter Eggs will be awarded to the winners in 3 age-group categories:

• Adults (18+)
• Secondary School Age
• Pre-School & Primary School Age

To enter, scan the original artwork and email the image to Tina Walker at tinalet@hotmail.com. The name of the artist and their age-group should be written on the artwork, so that each piece is clearly identifiable.

Winners will be notified by email and asked to provide their original artwork for the Prize Presentation and Press

The closing date is 15 March 2015

The website of the Church of England Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales is at http://www.westyorkshiredales.anglican.org/

Fairtrade campaigners in York went bananas as they called on Tesco to stock more Fairtrade. Members of the York Fair Trade Forum assembled at Tesco’s Clifton Moor superstore on Friday 12th December and, with the help of a 5 metre long inflatable banana, drew attention to the campaign: ‘Asda and Tescos make your bananas Fairtrade.’

The campaigners were joined by the Fairtrade Councillor for the City of York, Linsay Cunningham-Cross, who handed over letters to the Duty Manager calling for the Tesco store to stock more Fairtrade bananas.

The Fairtrade Foundation’s ‘Asda and Tescos make your bananas Fairtrade’ campaign has been launched as bitter banana price battles between the UK’s biggest supermarkets are trapping vulnerable farmers and workers in poverty.

Over the past 10 years, the price supermarkets charge for our loose bananas has halved, whilst the cost of producing them has doubled, leaving many banana farmers and workers caught below the poverty line.

Asda and Tesco are two of the biggest bananas sellers in the UK and major players in this price war. Thousands of farmers and workers grow the millions of bananas they sell each year, yet less than one in ten of these bananas comes with Fairtrade certification, which research shows is the best independent assurance that those who produced them were protected from the pressure of low prices.

Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and The Co-operative have already acted to give their customers confidence that they’re not squeezing their farmers and workers – 100% of the bananas they sell are Fairtrade certified. Asda and Tesco, selling less than 10% Fairtrade, lag a long way behind.

We need to know that farmers and workers aren’t paying the price for our cheap bananas. Asda and Tesco are negotiating their banana contracts right now so it’s important to act quickly.

Ask them to go Fairtrade today – send a message to your local store now

Students at the University of Leeds can enjoy a fair Christmas after shopping at the annual University Fair Trade and Christmas Fair held in the palatial surroundings of Parkinson Court.

A wide variety of Fair Trade products was on sale including: food and drink items, handicrafts, fashion goods, accessories, stylish bags and jewellery.  Traders included Traidcraft, Oxfam and Fairer World.  Amongst the special Christmas purchases were Fairtrade christmas puddings, christmas cakes, nativity sets and dates from Palestine.

Members of Fairtrade Leeds set up a stall to sell Zaytoun products and to promote Leeds’ status as a Fairtrade City.

Over 2000 people attended the switching on of the Christmas lights in Skipton on 27th November.  This year the theme for the switch on was ‘make it a local and Fairtrade Christmas’ and the honour of illuminating the town went to Kaden of Water Street Primary School, who designed the poster for the event, and to Mark Dawson, the Coordinator of Fairtrade Yorkshire. 

The crowds were treated to an exciting entertainment line up including a rousing brassband and an appearance from Santa.  Late night shopping gave the people of Skipton the chance to marvel at the lights and purchase Fair Trade food, beverages and gifts from the many outlets in the town that sell them, including the dedicated Fair Trade shop, From the Source.

Skipton celebrated its first Christmas as a Fairtrade Town and following the switching on there was a civic reception in the Town Hall, hosted by the Mayor of Skipton, Councillor John Dawson.  Kaden was congratulated alongside runners up in the poster competition: Gemma of Greatwood Primary School and Jack from Parish Church Primary School.

Jack, Kaden and Gemma with the Mayor of Skipton and Mark Dawson of Fairtrade Yorkshire

This year’s spectacular Christmas light ‘switch on’ in Skipton, on Thursday 27th November, will have an extra special Fairtrade flavour. The slogan for the town centre switch on will be ‘make it a local and Fairtrade Christmas.’  Shoppers are encouraged to support the wide variety of local shops and businesses in Skipton, not least the thriving market. Skipton, which has recently been declared a Fairtrade Town, has many businesses which sell or serve Fairtrade products, and it is the home of the dedicated Fair Trade shop ‘From the Source’ which sells a selection of high quality hand made gifts and fashion items.

Kaden’s winning poster

On the 27th, live entertainment will take place from 5pm to 8pm, just outside of the Town Hall. A brassband will play from 5.30, leading up to the grand illumination at 6pm. The lights will be switched on by the Coordinator of Fairtrade Yorkshire, Mark Dawson, and the winner of the local and Fairtrade poster competition, Kaden, from Water Street Primary School. Over 200 entries were received in the competition to design a poster for the switch on and Kaden’s winning entry was chosen by a panel which included the Town Centre Manager and the Coordinator of Fairtrade Skipton. Many of Skipton’s businesses will be open for the evening. So come along and enjoy the magical atmosphere in the countdown to a Fairtrade Christmas.

The Malton and Norton Fairtrade Group hosted their annual Christmas shop at the Friends Meeting House, in Malton on Saturday 8th November. The group sold a wide variety of fair trade gifts, food, crafts, decorations and cards. The Malton shopper was introduced to an incredible range of quality ethical products, ensuring a win-win outcome for both shopper and producer. Despite atrocious weather, over £1600 of goods were sold.

A slightly soggy bunch of bananas a-peel to ASDA for better bananas

Campaigners from Leeds have called on Asda and Tesco stores to sell more Fairtrade bananas to prevent banana farmers and workers in the developing world suffering as a result of supermarket price wars.

They are asking the supermarkets to make the switch during November, when retailers typically negotiate supplier contracts for the year ahead.

Bananas are the UK’s favourite fruit – the UK public spends over £700m eating 5 billion of them a year – yet instead of making a decent living, many banana farmers that supply the UK are struggling to get by. For instance in Ecuador, one of the UK’s biggest suppliers, only 1 in 4 families working in the banana industry earns enough to take them above the poverty line.[1] Read the rest of this entry »

Children at Kirkstall St.Stephens Primary School were the first School Council to trial the “Peer Educators toolkit” on Fairtrade, developed by Leeds Development Education Centre (DEC). The toolkit is designed so children are taught the activities first with their School Council teacher, then go on to become Peer Educators, teaching the activities to the rest of the school.

The toolkits are part of the EC funded ‘Global Fairness: Schools as Agents of Change’ project which empowers children to learn about injustice and take action to make the world a fairer place.

Three toolkits have been developed on the themes of Fairtrade, Garment Workers and Waste.

Hannah Langdana, project coordinator, said “The banana role play game went really well, all the children were morally outraged that the banana worker only receives a 1p of the 30p price of a banana. In fact the children were so shocked that the children playing the role of the supermarket gave them their share of the money saying ‘have this, we don’t need it!’ If only real life was so straightforward!”

Feedback from the children showed the pupils’ enjoyment and learning, with responses such as “I felt happy and thankful for the farmers” and “I have learnt that fair trade is a really big difference to people’s lives”.

Schools are still being invited to trial the toolkits of Fairtrade, Waste and Garment workers, until Christmas. If your school is interested in a free Fairtrade workshop, please contact Hannah@leedsdec.org.uk.