Local schools promote Fairtrade

For this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight, local schoolchildren have been designing artwork to highlight the importance of buying Fair Trade products. Nia Griffith MP, Lee Waters AM and Llanelli Mayor David Darkin joined the talented children at Llanelly House last Friday (8th March) to celebrate their designs and award prizes.

Children from Old Road School, Stebonheath School and Pembrey School were all awarded Fairtrade footballs for their drawings of different Fairtrade products that they had learnt about at school. A number of other events were held in Llanelli and District, which has been a Fairtrade zone since last year, including a Fairtrade banana giveaway in the Elli Centre and a cup cake sale in Tumble Hall.

Nia Griffith MP said: “I would like to congratulate the children from Old Road, Stebonheath and Pembrey schools for their excellent work promoting Fair Trade and learning about lots of different Fairtrade products… not just the chocolate, although that definitely is a favourite!

“It was great to see the display of posters in Llanelly House and award Fairtrade footballs to the talented children. Fairtrade Fortnight and initiatives like these are a great way to engage young people in the Fairtrade cause, which is important if we are to ensure that future generations understand problems faced by farmers in the developing world and avoid buying products that make them worse.”

“Let’s take pride in the fact that Llanelli and District is a Fairtrade Zone, but keep up our efforts to ensure that farmers in the UK and around the world are supported and paid fairly.”

Lee Waters AM said: “It was a pleasure to meet children from Fairtrade Committees at Stebonheath, Old Road and Pembrey schools at this event last week. Their eye-catching posters demonstrated how much they had learnt about Fairtrade products, and I was really impressed by their knowledge and understanding of why buying Fairtrade goods makes such a big difference to farmers and workers in developing countries.

“The children were a real credit to their schools, and deserved their Fairtrade footballs. This was a great way to celebrate Llanelli and District’s achievement in becoming a Fairtrade Zone.”

Tara Fisher, a local Fairtrade activist, added: “We love the fact that Llanelli’s schools get involved in promoting Fairtrade. Teaching children early on about the importance of Fairtrade is vital, and this competition has been a fun way for teachers to get them even more interested in the cause.”