PARLIAMENTARY CONGRATULATIONS FOR FAIRTRADE SCHOOL

Linda Fabiani MSP has tabled a Scottish Parliament motion congratulating the pupils and staff of Strathaven Academy on the success of their MadinaFest Fairtrade celebration, which took place on 25 February.

Strathaven Academy achieved Fairtrade status in September 2009 and the pupils and staff have made a commitment to promote the principles and values behind the Fairtrade movement.

The MadinaFest took the form of a fashion show highlighting the need for fairness and sustainability in the textiles trade, particularly in West Africa and India, interspersed with short dramatic performances linking historical struggles for fair trade with those of the present day.

Strathaven-based MSP Linda made a speech at the event and said afterwards:

“Everyone at Strathaven Academy should be very proud of this wonderful celebration of Fairtrade. This was a fashion show with a difference. Everyone who saw it will understand what Fairtrade means, the real difference it makes and our own role as consumers in demanding Fairtrade goods.

“I was really delighted to see the performances featuring one of Strathaven’s own heroes, James Purlie Wilson, who campaigned in 1820 for the rights of local weavers to be treated and paid fairly for their work. As those performances made very clear, Fairtrade is not a new idea but one that has been with us for centuries.

“The workers’ rights that Wilson fought and died for in 1820 are the same ones that the modern Fairtrade movement seeks for textile and other producers in the developing world today. Fairtrade is not about charity but about an exchange of goods that is mutually beneficial to the producers as well as the buyers.

“Strathaven was one of Scotland’s first ever Fairtrade towns and it is clear to me that the pupils of Strathaven Academy will continue to build on that success for many years to come.”

The full text of Linda Fabiani’s motion is:
S3M-05849 Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (Scottish National Party): Strathaven, Celebrating a Marketplace That is Fair and Sustainable— That the Parliament congratulates the pupils and staff of Strathaven Academy for their Madinafest celebration, held on 25 February 2010, Madina being recognition of fair trade as a mutually beneficial exchange in the marketplace, and notes that Strathaven Academy gained Fairtrade status in September 2009, marking the continued success of Strathaven Fair Trade Town.

Information about James Purlie Wilson and the Radical Rising of 1820 can be found at http://www.sorbie.net/strathaven.htm.