Fairtrade status for Thame primary school

PROUD pupils and staff of John Hampden Primary learned recently that their school had been awarded Fairtrade School Status in recognition of their work for supporting the Fairtrade movement.

The school has been actively promoting Fairtrade within the school itself and in the wider community of Thame for several years, ever since the Fairtrade/One World theme of the Thame Festival in 2005.

A spokesperson for the school said: “The children have worked enthusiastically to encourage people to use Fairtrade products so that the producers get a fair deal. Choosing to buy Fairtrade is something that everyone can do without donating money, and can be life-changing for the people who grow our food. And we have fun doing it! Like Going Bananas in Fairtrade Fortnight this year, where we ate several hundred bananas as part of a banana eating record attempt.

“We hold tastings of Fairtrade products, have cake sales using Fairtrade ingredients and regularly run a Fairtrade cafe at our school events. In class, pupils learn about Fairtrade and have campaigned successfully for the local Co-Op to sell the Dubble chocolate bar. Now our efforts have been rewarded by the Fairtrade Foundation and we are really excited to be one of the first schools in the county to have achieved Fairtrade School Status.”