Dear Fairtrade Campaigner,

The Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade Yorkshire are delighted to invite you to the Yorkshire Fairtrade Campaigner Forum on 22 June in Leeds. Join other Fairtrade campaigners from the region to:

• Hear the latest Fairtrade news 
• Be inspired and informed through speakers and workshops 
• Discuss the future of the Fairtrade campaign in Yorkshire and the UK
• Elect a Yorkshire representative for the Fairtrade Foundation’s National Campaigner Committee.

Yorkshire Fairtrade Campaigner Forum details

Saturday 22 June 10am – 4pm

University House, University of Leeds, LS2 9JS

Lunch will be provided – please inform us of any dietary requirements upon registering. 

Register today to reserve your free place.

The United Nations Millenium development goals were set to be achieved by 2015.

As the deadline approaches, the UN is discussing what sort of framework should be in place beyond 2015.

The Fairtrade Foundation is joining the global Fair Trade movement in calling for a future international development framework that supports concrete means to achieve sustainable and inclusive development.  This should include a fairer world trade system enabling the poorest communities to work their way out of poverty.

Thousands of local leaders across the globe have been contacted by Fair Trade supporters to sign the Fairtrade Beyond 2015 Declaration.

Councillor Linsay Cunningham-Cross and James Alexander, Leader of City of York Council, as he signs the Beyond 2015 declaration.

Councillor Cunningham-Cross, the Fairtrade Councillor in York, was eager to get behind the campaign.  She said:

“I have asked the Leader of City of York Council to sign this pledge and make an important statement about global development and the role York as a city can play in that.  We want a development framework that enables small producers in poorer countries to trade their way out of poverty, a truly sustainable form of development.

It is important that York looks beyond its own boundary in making a contribution to Fair Trade and ethical global development, and this pledge is an important part of that contribution”.

Find out more here:

Fairtrade Beyond 2015

Many congratulations to Ireland Wood Primary School in Leeds who are the worthy winners of the Fairtrade Yorkshire Film competition of 2013.

See below for the videos from all the finalists including champions Ireland Wood.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is your chance to see the Fair Trade story told in this short video.  “For a few Pesos more” is produced by BAFTS (the British Association of Fair Trade shops).

Penistone Scouts are teaming up with fairandfunky for World Fairtrade Day in a timely Fairtrade workshop.

“Time for Fairtrade” gets children and young people talking about Fairtrade and food: from growers and producers to the kitchen table. In this popular fairandfunky workshop children find out about Fairtrade issues, and discover how they can take little steps to change the world.

Following role play and discussion the scouts will each create their own clock using recycled materials to take away. To show it is “Time for Fairtrade”; and share the message of Fairtrade.

For more information about fairandfunky and their interactive workshops head to www.fairandfunky.com

 Chair of Fairtrade Bradford and Fairtrade Ilkley, Karen Palframan, will be heading to Downing Street on May 9th to hand in the mini marchers’ petition to David Cameron.  She will be able to speak to him about the need for global policies to support small scale farmers.

Karen Palframan – all set for Downing Street

An early signatory to the petition, Mrs Palframan was herself represented by a paper mini marcher and has been invited by the Fairtrade Foundation to join the delegation meeting the Prime Minister.

“I am really honoured to have been asked to do this”, she said, “and never dreamt that my support for the ‘Make Food Fair’ campaign would lead me to Downing Street. Our voices can be heard and hopefully we can influence powerful decision makers. Food and hunger are on the G8 agenda, and we must ensure that the farmers providing our food are not going hungry themselves”.

Mrs Palframan added, “Let’s unite and make our voices heard even more loudly then they were during the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign in 2005. I would ask you to sign the ‘Make Food Fair’ petition and also to buy products with the Fairtrade logo as these guarantee a fair deal for farmers”.

A number of the Make Food Fair mini marchers have already visited the Students’ Union at Bradford College, which will be encouraging students to sign the petition.

Bradford College Student Union members with the mini marchers

 The Students’ Union has an additional campaign underway to gain Fairtrade College status, and SU President, Piers Telemacque, has already collected 1,300 student signatures in support of this campaign. The SU wants to see Fairtrade products used and sold throughout the College, and hopes Fairtrade cotton uniforms can be introduced. If Fairtrade College status can be achieved, Fairtrade would be included in a number of curriculum modules and actively promoted, especially during Fairtrade Fortnight.

This year World Fair Trade Day is on Saturday 11th May.

World Fair Trade Day is an international celebration for the global Fair Trade movement.  Do look out for events being held in your local area.

Make sure that you sign the Make Food Fair petition which will be handed to the Prime Minister just before World Fair Trade Day. Despite producing 70% of the world’s food, over half of the world’s hungriest people are smallholder farmers. The petition calls on David Cameron to go further and champion a better deal for smallholder farmers at this year’s G8 meeting.

Sign the petition now.

Please find below details of some events being held in York

Read the rest of this entry »

During the middle of February, after a year and a half of hard work, Skipton Girls’ High School achieved Fairtrade School Status. The first school in Skipton to be awarded this! Mrs Brailsford and the Fairtrade Friends team have been working together since September 2011, promoting Fairtrade within the school and local community. The students have worked brilliantly together, sacrificing free periods and lunchtimes to have meetings and run events.

A stunning Fairtrade fruit bowl

Now the school has Fairtrade Status, the group has to continue and build on previous activities, as well as aim to introduce it in new subject areas. Since September 2012, the Fairtrade Friends have organised the very successful Fairtrade Fashion Show, baked and sold Fairtrade goodies, and ran a Fairtrade Stall at the Christmas Concert.

During this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight, the Friends worked with Greatwood Primary School. At first, they were quite nervous about running activities with the young students. However, once in the classroom, their confidence and enthusiasm shone through, and they received praise from the teachers they worked alongside.

The Friends split into two teams. The first team worked with Year 2, and spent one session introducing Fairtrade and producing Fairtrade fruit bowls, and the second session designing new Fairtrade chocolate bars with the students. The second team worked with Year 5, and spent their first session producing Fairtrade footprints and flags of Fairtrade producing countries, and the second session running the Fairtrade cocoa bean game. The artwork produced by the primary school students were put on display at their Fairtrade coffee morning for their parents and the local community to see.

Fairtrade supporters joined with other campaigners for social justice at a Human Rights event in York. 

The open day for the York Human Rights City Project was held in Parliament Street on April 20th and drew in over a thousand people.

The York Human Rights City Project is a network that aspires to a community based approach to social justice and human rights, linking the local to the global.

There was a large variety of Fairtrade products on sale at the Fairer World stall and York Fair Trade Forum set up an information stall.  Several hundred copies of the new Fairtrade York map leaflet were given out to York shoppers.