St Fillan’s Primary School step into the Dragon’s Den for Fairtrade

St Fillan’s Primary School step into the Dragon’s Den for Fairtrade

Pupils and staff at St Fillan’s Primary in Houston are celebrating after achieving Fairtrade status.

The primary seven class celebrated the news with Councillor Brian Lawson, chair of Renfrewshire’s Fairtrade Steering Group. He said: “I am delighted that St Fillan’s Primary has become a Fairtrade primary school. This is a fantastic achievement and I’d like to congratulate all the staff and pupils for their hard work.”

The school began their Fairtrade journey 18 months ago by promoting the use of Fairtrade products within the school and the community. They were also successful in submitting a bid for funding through the Schools’ Dragon’s Den initiative which enabled them to develop a social enterprising business to set up a Fairtrade Café. The café is open to pupils three times each week and once every term, members of the community are invited to a Fairtrade Coffee morning.

Head teacher Louise Maher said: “Achieving status as a Fairtrade school is a very proud moment for St Fillan’s Primary School and this achievement is due to the hard work and dedication of pupils, staff and the community.”
The achievement means that both primary schools in the village, St Fillan’s and Houston Primary, now have Fairtrade status.

Councillor Lawson added: “This is also very encouraging for the Houston and Bridge of Weir Fairtrade committee who are working towards achieving Fairtrade status for the villages. To maintain Renfrewshire’s Fairtrade status we need to keep up our commitment to helping third world farmers and producers get a better deal and one of our key goals is to make every town or village in Renfrewshire a Fairtrade zone.”

Renfrewshire achieved Fairtrade Zone status in 2009 and the steering group continues to promote Fairtrade in the area and develop the campaign further.

Information supplied by Renfrewshire Council