St Columba’s High in Clydebank and its four associated primaries have become the first Fairtrade school cluster in the UK.
The schools received the news earlier this month at the start of Fairtrade Fortnight, the annual festival where fair trade is promoted in creative ways.
Since the launch of the Fairtrade Schools Award, more than 1,000 schools across the UK have registered for the scheme, and about 20 Scottish schools have now been awarded Fairtrade status by the Fairtrade Foundation, the accrediting organisation.
The St Columba’s cluster is the only one where each school has been awarded the status in its own right. Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, the leading Scottish aid agency, now hopes other schools will do the same. Ian Menzies, SCIAF’s schools officer, said: “The Clydebank schools saw the scheme as a great way of increasing collaboration in enterprise initiatives among the cluster. Each school has organised many exciting activities and events.”
www.fairtrade.org.uk.
