Get active!
Case Study 1: Thomas Adams School
Case Study 2: St. Benedict’s College
Case Study 3: The Young Co-operatives
Case Study 4: Whitby High School
Fairtrade products and suppliers
Dubble stockists

Case Study 1: Thomas Adams School

This letter is from Izzy Boggild-Jones, a Year 10 student at Thomas Adams School in Wem, Shropshire:

In January 2004, a group of year 9 students decided to set up a group for people interested in changing the world. Our group is called Down 2 Earth, Up 2 Us , or D2E for short.

We decided our first mission was going to be getting Fairtrade chocolate stocked in our canteen. So, after downloading some petitions from the Dubble website, we headed to the RE department to ask the staff for help.

A couple of weeks later, we were stationed outside the dinner hall, petitions at the ready, and managed to collect around 300 signatures. We took these to our headteacher, who put us in contact with the head of the kitchen staff. I was also invited to a school council meeting, where I informed those present of Fairtrade’s work, and what a real difference buying Fairtrade can make. Everyone was very happy to listen and extremely enthusiastic.

Soon after this, I went to speak to the head of the kitchens, and she said she would get into contact with someone at the catering service that runs our school kitchen, Shire Services, to see if they would agree to stock Fairtrade.

After some time, we were told that they were willing to stock Dubble, but only if we would publicise it. We were very happy to do this, and raise awareness of Fairtrade.

We then began our major Fairtrade campaign! We put posters up all around school. We set up displays and asked the RE staff to speak about it in their lessons and we even gave speeches in assemblies.

Then, we were told that the catering service intended to (unnecessarily) charge far more for Dubble than the price they charged for the unethical chocolate they stock. I was invited to a meeting with a lady from the catering service, and we negotiated the price to 45p. The woman at the meeting was very helpful, and agreed to stock Dubble bars and Fairtrade orange juice. She also informed me that they intended to stock Fairtrade in the other schools they cater for.

As soon as the products were stocked, they went down a storm, the Dubble bars outselling Kitkats by 288 bars in the first week! We have a continued interest in all things Fairtrade, and held a Fairtrade coffee morning at the beginning of March. Our next aim is to get Wem Fairtrade town status!

My top tips for anyone hoping to get Fairtrade stocked in school:

• Promote your campaign - put posters where most people will see them.
• Talk to teachers - getting staff involved could be the turning point in your campaign. We certainly couldn’t have managed without the brilliant help from our RE department.
• Pester Power - being persistent works! Be patient, and don’t give up. Remember, when you believe in what you’re talking about, people can’t help but listen.

You can do your bit to change the world too!

Good Luck.

Izzy Boggild-Jones