On the first day of Fairtrade Fortnight 2006, our chairman Anthony Lumley went to present 20 FAIRTRADE Marked footballs to Farlingaye High School.  He was met by sixth form students and John Yorke, head of P.E.  The balls he presented were handmade in Singapore, and each bears the FAIRTRADE Mark, indicating they were made in safe and stable working conditions by people who were paid fairly and treated well.  The same Mark certifies that no child labour was used.  Mr Yorke stated that “Sports equipment from the major brands has a bad reputation for exploitation of workers, so these balls are really good to have.  When the youngsters see the Fairtrade logo on them it will make them interested to find out more about it.”

One of our members who is in the sixth form at Farlingaye said at the time “I’d like to see Woodbridge become a Fairtrade Town. The school can be a big part of that. It’s important to get young people thinking about issues like Fairtrade and choosing Fairtrade products.”

Fairtrade For Woodbridge has always felt that our local schools are important places to promote Fairtrade and help people understand the issues of trade justice, and felt this would be a great way of doing that whilst at the same time supporting our schools and the fitness of our local children and young people.  Another 20 footballs were presented to Kyson County Primary School on Friday 17th March.

If you would like to have Fairtrade footballs presented to your school (providing it’s in Woodbridge) do get in touch with us.  Alternatively, if you would like to contribute towards the cost of another set for another school, we would of course be very pleased to hear from you, as our funds are extremely limited!  Please email us or ring 01394 382589.

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