Gryffe and Todholm are top of the class for fair trade

Two inspiring schools have scooped awards for their support of fair trade within Renfrewshire.

Gryffe High School made it a treble as their dedicated fair trade group took home the secondary schools award for the third successive year.

Their exceptional work included hosting a visit from a fair trade producer, introducing Fairtrade footballs to the PE department and hosting a number of events such as a bake off, ice cream stall and smoothie stall.

Fair trade is also embedded into the curriculum with Modern Studies, English and Social Subjects all having an element of the issue included.

Heather Rowan, Head of Citizenship at Gryffe High, said: “We are delighted to win the Fair Trade trophy for the third time.

“Our pupils are thrilled that their efforts to promote fair trade have been recognised and this will continue to motivate them to raise awareness both in school and in our wider community.”

Todholm Primary made it back-to-back titles as they retained the John McDowell Trophy they won last year, thanks to their dedication in bringing the issue to the attention of the whole school.

Every year-group took part in a Global Storylines course called ‘Our Crop, Our Land’ which brought in subject areas including Art, Drama and English and explored the themes of sustainability and equality.

They also hold a regular Fair Trade Community Café which invites local elderly community members along for coffee and a chat, with any donations reinvested in fair trade ingredients to be used in food technology lessons.

Lynne McGinn, Todholm Head Teacher, said: “We’re delighted to win the John McDowell Award for work promoting fair trade.

“Over the past few years we have progressed from being a FairAware School to a FairActive School and earlier this year we were delighted to achieve FairAchiever status from the Fairtrade Foundation.

“At Todholm, we encourage our children and the school community to learn about Fairtrade and we endeavour to support our children to understand how global trade works and how people everywhere can change the world around them.”

The award for primary schools is named after former Provost John McDowell who introduced the award during his time in office and was a keen advocate of young people learning about fair trade in their early years.

Chair of the Renfrewshire Fairtrade Steering Group, Renfrewshire Council Leader Iain Nicolson, said: “I was delighted to award these trophies to both Gryffe and Todholm to celebrate the fantastic work they have undertaken to support fair trade this year.

“They are creating a fantastic culture within their schools of fairness and equality which will only benefit them as they get older and venture into the adult world.

“Hopefully through these awards we can continue to inspire young people to face inequality head on and fight for the rights of those who aren’t getting a fair deal.”

Renfrewshire has a long history of supporting fair trade and the Renfrewshire Fairtrade Steering Group meets regularly to discuss how the issue can be promoted throughout the area.

This can be achieved through local events and community promotion, with grant funding available to support fair trade related projects in Renfrewshire.

Membership is open to all and anyone who is interested is invited to attend and meet like-minded people who wish to advance the cause in Renfrewshire.

For more information, visit www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/fairtrade.