We heard this morning from yesterday’s coffee morning at Holly Trees Primary School in Brentwood, which recently became the first school in the Borough to be awarded Fairtrade status. I went along to the very lively gathering – which was part of Macmillan Cancer Support’s annual World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, as well as to celebrate Fairtrade – and chatted with one of the teachers behind the initiative, Vevek Singh, together with a couple of the pupils on the school’s Fairtrade Committee, Lola and Lucy.

Listen here – part 1:HOLLY TREES PART 1

It was obvious from talking to both Vevek and the girls that Holly Trees is doing so much more than merely paying lip service to being a Fairtrade school, and I was particularly encouraged by how the positive ethos of Fairtrade is dovetailing with various aspects of the curriculum and school life. Whilst there I also caught up with Caryl Kwei from the Brentwood Fairtrade Steering Group, who was thrilled by the way the School has embraced Fairtrade, and who’d love to hear from other local schools, businesses and other organisations who share similar values and would like to take the Fairtrade pledge – as we at Phoenix FM have done.

Listen here – part 2:HOLLY TREES PART 2

For more information – and to contact the group – visit the Brentwood Fairtrade website.