Hartlepool people urged to back Fairtrade Fortnight

Rachael Armstrong and Christopher Scott from The Vestry with (back,from left) Reverend Nick Moore, Barry Currell, from Catcote Academy, and Martin Green.

Schools, churches and the community will come together to raise awareness of how people can support farmers in poorer parts of the world to get a fair deal.

A Columbian coffee producer will visit Catcote Academy on Friday, March 4, to talk about how she benefits from being part of the Fairtrade initiative.

She will also help to judge a competition for the best Fairtrade breakfast muffin, which is open to everyone in town.

It is all part of the activities being spearheaded by Hartlepool Fairtrade steering group for Fairtrade Fortnight, which runs between February 29 to March 13. This year’s theme is breakfast.

Martin Green, steering group chairman, said: “It is about recognising how some of the farmers who produce our everyday products we have for breakfast sometimes have difficulty feeding themselves.

“The more people that buy Fairtrade products, the better things are.”

The community is invited to hear coffee grower Luz Marina Garcia Ruiz at Catcote Academy, Catcote Road, on Friday, March 4, from 9.30am to 11.30am.

Anyone can enter the muffin competition, just make sure yours are delivered to Catcote Academy no later than 10am on the day of the event.

Entry forms are available from Christ Church, Catcote Academy and the Cornerstone Cafe in Park Road.

A Fairtrade breakfast will also be laid on as part of the Big Breakfast weekend. Numerous school breakfast clubs will also support the weekend in their own settings.

The Vestry cafe, in Christ Church and Grange Road Methodist Church, will also support the breakfast theme by serving up Fairtrade snacks on the.

Reverend Nick Moore, of Stranton church, said: “Fairtrade is becoming more mainstream but Fairtrade Fortnight is an opportunity to raise the profile and make people consciously aware.”