Fairtrade Award – Outstanding Project

Phil Gawne and Rosemary Clarke were invited to the Fairtrade Foundation’s 20th Birthday Reception at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster.  The reason? The Isle of Man’s Fairtrade Group had been awarded the Outstanding Project in the twenty years of the Fairtrade Foundation’s existence!

This more formal picture shows Allegra McEvedy (cookery author and broacaster) and Michael Gidney (Chief Executive at the Fairtrade Foundation) with Phil and Rosemary and the award.  The Fairtrade symbol is crafted out of Fairtrade silver.

The award was given for the Primary Fairtrade Conferences organised by the Fairtrade Group.  The judges were impressed by:

  • the detailed planning and execution
  • the involvement of Government (the conferences take place in the Government Buildings in Douglas with the children using the main chamber for their own debates; Clare Christian, President of Tynwald, welcomed the delegates and assisted with the debates).
  • the involvement of the Department for Education and Children (an adviser led Philosophy 4 Children workshops)
  • the number of schools involved (17 – half of all primary schools on the Island)
  • the support of businesses (the local Fairtrade shop, Shakti Man, provided the key note speaker; the Manx Co-operative supported the conference with lunch and snacks)
  • the structure of the conference which included the opportunity for schools to plan their own activities for Fairtrade Fortnight
  • a range of clear outcomes (one school provided Thought for the Day for the five weekdays of the first week of Fairtrade Fortnight; another developed a Fairtrade assembly to share with a neighbouring schools which had not attended the conference – and which did come the following year; a range of activities during Fairtrade Fortnight.
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