Step 1. Spreading the word
- Holding a successful Fairtrade stall
- Sweet Injustice: The chocolate game
- Winning them over: Frequently Asked Questions
- From football to fashion shows: More ideas for Fairtrade events
Step 2. Get Fairtrade products stocked in your school or university
Step 3. Becoming a Fairtrade school or university
People & Planet groups across the country have successfully tried lots of other ways to raise awareness about Fairtrade. Here are some suggestions.
- Fairtrade fashion show
- Fairtrade cafe or tuck-shop
- Fairtrade Love Day
- Human vending machine
- Fairtrade football match, ‘Un-Fair’, Tug-of-War
- Fairtrade Fortnight
Hold a Fairtrade fashion show
Download the Environmental Justice Foundation’s guide to organising a Fairtrade Fashion show
Portsmouth’s Fashion Show aimed to show that Fairtrade doesn’t just come in a jar!
Portsmouth University P&P organised a Fairtrade fashion show in December 2005. Around 400 people attended, where models and dancers fashioned clothes that had been donated by Fairtrade fashion outlets such as Epona, The Hemp Trading Company, Equop, as well as People & Planet’s fairly traded T-shirts. The audience were entertained by everyone from the Breakdance society, Hindu society, the Dance society and members of the P&P group as they all took to the catwalk! The group also invited Simeon Greene from the Windward Isles to give a passionate talk on the impact that students have in choosing Fairtrade products, and the importance of the fight for trade justice.
There were amazing prizes that had been donated for the event, including 2 tickets to a festival, a fairtrade football signed by the local football club, a visit to a health spa, clothes, books, and CDs. The night was finished off with a party with breakdancing and DJs.
Newcastle University P&P persuaded a total of 12 companies to lend their clothes for the fashion show they organised, providing a great variety of styles. Megan from the group says:
“A Fairtrade fashion show doesn´t take much organising; a few emails to suppliers (whose contact details can be found on the Internet), book a venue, obtain some fairtrade food and drink from willing donors, advertise with posters and pamphlets and use your group for models! It’s great fun, the audience love it, and it’s proof that Fairtrade doesn´t have to just come in a jar.”
Set up your own Fairtrade café or tuck shop
Wootton Basset enjoy a nice cup of tea
This may sound quite ambitious, but lots of groups have shown it can be done! Aberdeen University have even produced a complete Guide to running a Fairtrade Café for other groups to use. Call or email the P&P office if you´d like to be sent a copy of Aberdeen´s guide.
Declare St Valentine’s Day ‘Fairtrade LoveDay’
Spread the Fairtrade love by hi-jacking Valentine´s Day!
In 2003, Balcarras School P&P group decided to use St Valentine´s Day as an opportunity to promote Fairtrade products like cake and chocolate and to make people aware of the need to make trade fair. They ran a delivery service where students could send Fairtrade goods and a message to their friends or sweethearts. It was so successful that we decided to share the idea with the rest of the network, and officially make Valentine´s Day, People & Planet´s Fairtrade Loveday!
Read P&P’s Guide to running a successful Love Day event
Build a Human Vending Machine
KES P&P group members and their Fairtrade Human Vending Machine
Paul Collins Southern Daily Echo
There are some fantastic Fairtrade vending machines available. If your school or university doesn´t have one, why not set up your own!
The Goodwill Group at Nab Wood School put their creative talents together to decorate a giant box with posters and leaflets about Fairtrade. The group then took it in turns to dish out a range of Fairtrade goods from inside the `human vending machine´ to eager customers. King Edward School in Southampton built such a fantastic vending machine they got in the local paper, and the school has now got a real, and very popular, Fairtrade vending machine in place.
Run a Fairtrade Sports Day or `UnFair´
Hold a sports day, football match or tug-of-war to illustrate the injustices of world trade - with the rules rigged against the poor. For example, in a football game, you could pit the rich world against the poor, with the poor team playing uphill, with less players, and wider goals. You might want a biased referee too!
Cambridge P&P held a Campus UnFair:
“We gave out vouchers for food, education, healthcare, which people had to give up to play one of the games. In the skittles game rich countries were given a basketball to knock them over, whilst poor countries had to make do with a pingpong ball. In the fishing game all countries had fishing rods, but poorer countries had no hooks! With the unlucky dip, just as most people are born into developing countries, most people ended up getting nothing at all!”
Fairtrade Fortnight
Dance for Justice!
Fairtrade Fortnight takes place every year at the beginning of March, and is a focus for promoting Fairtrade and the benefits it brings to poor farmers. Fairtrade campaigners across the country put on a host of events to raise the profile of Fairtrade - making it a great opportunity to advance your Fairtrade campaign! Here are some ideas for activities:
- Run workshops for other students or put on a debate about unfair trading rules and Fairtrade
- Hold a t-shirt designing competition, using Fairtrade cotton t-shirts
- Get local shops to sell Fairtrade - you could ask lots of people to ask for Fairtrade at the checkout, or sign a petition to the store manager
- Hold a cake-making competition, or a bake sale, using Fairtrade ingredients.
- Hold a Fairtrade breakfast
- Put on a Fairtrade party or club-night, with displays about Fairtrade. You could ask party-goers to sign a petition at the entrance.
Send us your ideas
Tell us your ideas for Fairtrade actions and we´ll share them with other students on this page.
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