All’s fair in trade circles

Oldham Mayor, Councillor Shoab Akhtar, will help kick-start Fairtrade Fortnight when he welcomes two Columbian coffee growers to his parlour.

Fairtrade is the system of ensuring that growers and suppliers in developing countries get a fair price for their goods, produced under acceptable conditions.

The growers will also meet pupils at Crompton House, the first secondary school in the borough to gain Fairtrade status.

Oldham became a Fairtrade borough in 2007, after the council set the ball rolling with Fairtrade tea and coffee at all civic buildings and events.

Trinity Methodist Church in Royton hosts a coffee morning on Thursday from 9am to noon and there will be another at Union Street United Reformed Church, two days later, along with a banana cake-making competition at 10.30am.

The fortnight finishes on March 6 with a schools football tournament at Oldham Sports Centre, sponsored by Oldham Athletic.