Fairtrade is the topic of the day for local pupils at Wallace High event

Over 200 local Year 10 students recently gathered at Wallace High School to learn more about Fairtrade activity during Fairtrade Fortnight.

To celebrate being a Fairtrade city, Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council invited guest speaker Hugo Javier Guerrero, the youngest member of one of the more successful coffee farming families in the mountainous Piura region of Peru, to talk to local students about the importance of Fairtrade in improving communities in developing countries.

Hugo was welcomed to the council area by the Mayor, Councillor Alan Givan, Councillor Uel Mackin, former Chairman of the council’s Fairtrade Steering Group and Dr Stange, All Party Group on Fairtrade. The event was MC’d by two teachers from Wallace High, Johnny Reid and Barbara McKee.

The Mayor said: “The council is keen to promote the fact that Lisburn Castlereagh is a Fairtrade city, and we are delighted to welcome Fairtrade producer Hugo to our city. As our young people are the next generation, we are keen to educate them on the importance of Fairtrade to help producers enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods.

“Pupils from Forthill Integrated College and Friends School Lisburn joined the Wallace High pupils to hear first-hand about Hugo’s passion for producing quality organic coffee. Hugo spoke about the importance of tending the coffee crops and ensuring the ground remains free of weeds and being treated with their own natural fertilisers. His family are very keen to work with other families in the local Fairtrade cooperative to share ways to improve the farming and harvesting of the coffee.”

Local retailers Tesco and the Belsize Road Co-op supported the event through the provision of Fairtrade produce for the pupils, who took part in an interactive quiz on Fairtrade winning a number of giveaways and Fairtrade Maltesers.