Fairtrade
The FAIRTRADE Mark is an independent consumer label which appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a better deal. For a product to display the FAIRTRADE Mark it must meet international Fairtrade standards. These standards are set by the international certification body Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). Producer organisations that supply Fairtrade products are inspected and certified by FLO. They receive a minimum price that covers the cost of sustainable production and an extra premium that is invested in social or economic development projects.
There are a number of students at the College who are committed to Fairtrade. As a result they have formed the Take Action Group and are busy trying to ensure that the College can be accredited as a Fairtrade School to match Minehead’s status as a Fair trade Town. Find out about the Global Links project, which links us with a tea growing community in Uganda through e-mail pen-pals and an ambitious project to import their tea direct through Miles Tea and package and promote it through the College and in our wider community.
Another County Trophy!
"The College recently won Somerset’s Education-Business Partnership Award for 2008 as the school with the best project linking together the world of education with the world of work. We won it as a result of our exciting Fairtrade Tea project in which we worked with D J Miles and Company in Minehead to import tea from Uganda and sell it locally.
The Awards were held at the prestigious headquarters of Western Provident Association in Taunton, with over 200 guests from across the County. Over 20 winners were presented with trophies by Michelle Dewberry, winner of BBC’s The Apprentice programme in 2006. The College were winners in the Post 16 category because the Fairtrade Project was initially masterminded by Sixth Formers in the Take Action Group. We were then announced as the overall winners of the competition and collected a cheque for £300 which will be put towards the College’s exchange trip to Uganda in July.
We were fortunate that the ceremony coincided with the visit of our Ugandan partners and indeed Irene, a tea farmer from Mabale, helped to give a presentation at the ceremony alongside myself and Rachel Bigwood from last year’s Year 13. We spoke about the growing partnership and how we already have plans to expand our project by helping Buhemba School to start their own tea garden. We were joined at the ceremony by Paul Marsh from D J Miles and Company; he has been a fantastic support throughout the project and we look forward to continuing our partnership with him. Clinton Rogers, presenter on BBC’s Points West programme, hosted the evening and he was so impressed with our project that he has offered to lend the College a BBC video camera for our trip to Uganda in July and to record a programme with us on our return."
The photograph captures the presentation and includes the four students who helped to initiate the project, the four Ugandan visitors, Paul Marsh, Mr Swann, Leone Martin (Vice Chair of Governors) and the four staff who went to Uganda last year. A memorable occasion!
(written by Bob Cornes)
TAKING ACTION FOR FAIRTRADE
MABALE TEA
- Mabale Tea is a single source tea from the Mabale Tea Growers’ Factory near Fort Portal in Uganda. The College buys, packages and markets it with the help of DJ Miles Co. from Minehead
- We were the first school to have a Fairtrade licence which guarantees that a minimum price and a social premium have been paid on each sack.
- This premium is administered by a representative committee of farmers and factory workers who decide how it is spent. It has paid for a clinic, school classrooms, new roads, bridges and wells
- Mabale Tea can be bought from the College finance office and various other outlets in the Minehead area
- This partnership won the Somerset Educational Business Partnership Award in 2008
THE TAKE ACTION COMMITTEE
Purposes:
- To manage Mabale Tea Sales and Promotion
- To promote Fairtrade in College and the community
Membership:
- Is open to anyone with a passion to make a difference
- You can be an officer of the committee with a specific role
- Meetings are held every Wednesday Lunchtime in HB6
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT
Is in February each year and the Take Action Group always help to promote Fairtrade with lots of different events including coffee bar and displays at supermarkets.