Congratulations to Burj and Peter for getting the best time in the men’s pairs at Endure24. They were raising money for the Leeds Development Centre. The Leeds DEC raises awareness of global sustainable development with young people in Leeds

The Leeds Fairtrade Group is run by a small group of volunteers. We are now looking for a voluntary co-ordinator to help us. The role involves helping to initiate and organise events, help with running meetings – we meet six times a year on Friday mornings, and help with keeping our Twitter and Facebook pages up to date. Assistance with keeping our website up to date would also be helpful.

Ideally our volunteer would have the ability to facilitate and encourage volunteers’ ideas and actions,  ability to work as part of a group, experience in “small event” management , and to be able to liaise with existing and potential partners across the city.

He/she would have IT and social media skills, ability to take the initiative as well as work as a positive team player and to be a creative thinker.

To have understanding of Fairtrade and global issues would be an advantage.

You will get a unique experience to network with passionate and knowledgeable volunteers across the city who want to make the world a fairer place! You will gain experience in managing websites, public speaking,  running  (small scale) events and making maximum impact on a shoestring!:)

Please contact us with  brief details about yourself and your relevant experience if you would like to join us.

There are two interesting events in May 

1. Ed Mayo, general secretary of Co-operatives UK will speak on   

                 CAN BUSINESSES BE VALUES LED?  held on Thursday 11th May 

                  at  The  Heart Centre, Bennett Road, Headingley at 7.30pm

2. Shared Interest are holding a Leeds Supporters Day on

                      20th May from 10.30 – 13.45

   at The White Cloth Gallery 24 – 26 Aire St. Leeds LS1 1HT

Anyone interested in learning about Shared Interest is welcome

Children from Burley St. Matthias and ‘Burj the banana’ give Fairtrade the thumbs up

Children from 15 primary and secondary schools across Leeds,  came together during Fairtrade Fortnight on Thursday March 9th to run an afternoon of workshops which they have planned around the theme ‘Take a Break for Fairtrade’. They educated each other and their teachers, about Fairtrade and how it is enabling farmers around the world to earn a fair wage and lead dignified lives.

Supported by Leeds DEC and the city’s Fairtrade group, the 7th annual Fairtrade School Celebration took place at Leeds Civic Hall. It was  officially opened at 1:00pm with speeches by the Lord Mayor of Leeds and Councillor Mulherrin.

During the event the children ran workshops including child slavery in the cocoa trade, Fairtrade trivial pursuit, chocolate tasting and learning about the journey of the cocoa bean. Throughout the afternoon, they thought about effects of unfair trade and at 3.00pm will symbolically broke a giant paper chain covered in words relating to exploitation.

Poppy Fletcher, 8, from Ireland Wood Primary said:

“It’s was amazing! It was really exciting to run a workshop at the Civic Hall and work with other children.”

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There are two more events in Leeds during Fairtrade Fortnight to look out f0r

Beehive Fairtrade Café at the Methodist Centre, Chapel Allerton on Saturday 18th March from 10.30 – 1pm. Lots of Fairtrade stalls and refreshments.

and finally – a Fairtrade Breakfast at South Parade Baptist Church, Headingley on Sunday 12th March from 9am – 10am.

A huge thank you to all the fabulous and inspiring people who came to the launch of our Fairtrade Network! As a result, we are creating a Facebook group for Fairtrade supporters across the city to share information and get support. If you’d like to be involved in this send us a request .

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Look forward to seeing you there. Please RSVP to joan.machin@ntlworld.com

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Roots and Fruits vegetarian café has been part of the Grand Arcade for more than 20 years. For the last three years it has been owned and managed by Kay Jones who is a vegetarian herself. Her aim, in the overall management of the café, is to follow the same ethical principles she has always had for herself. This means that as far as possible the fruits and vegetables she uses are sourced locally. As regards Fairtrade, Kay has visited Ghana and seen  the cocoa pods being grown and knows the benefits of Fairtrade. For anyone who values Fairtrade sourcing and good local vegetarian food in a friendly atmosphere in the centre of Leeds, Roots and Fruits is the place to go.