Bunting bid is taken to St Mirren Park

Apr 27 2011 by Lynn Jolly, Paisley Daily Express

St Mirren bunting

FAIRTRADE campaigners have teamed up with footballers from St Mirren to take part in a world-record bunting bid.

And they have contributed more than five football pitches worth of bunting to the effort.

Renfrewshire Fairtrade Steering Group has collected around 3,500 flags of cotton bunting designed by campaigners, school children and individuals across Renfrewshire during Fairtrade Fortnight.

Each flag was attached to 0.5km of ribbon to be included in the Fairtrade Foundation’s attempt to break the world record for the longest string of bunting.

Members of the group joined St Mirren players Michael Higdon and Darren McGregor to show off their handiwork at St Mirren Park before it was sent off to the Fairtrade Foundation.

A spokesman for the steering group said: “We knew there was a lot of enthusiasm for Fairtrade, but we have been overwhelmed by the number of people who got involved in the world record attempt.

“The amount we’ve gathered in Renfrewshire alone is about the length of five football pitches, so to highlight how successful the campaign has been we took it down to St Mirren Park to show some of the players.

“The club is keen to support Fairtrade and getting the club involved it is also a great way of highlighting the importance of Fairtrade to a new audience.”

The theme of Fairtrade Fortnight 2011 was “show off your label” with a focus on Fairtrade cotton. People across the UK were urged to create their own designs on flags made from Fairtrade cotton and these will then all be added together for the world record attempt.

A wide range of events took place in Renfrewshire throughout the fortnight to encourage people to get involved including school competitions, coffee mornings and a Fairtrade fun day.

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.

By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices, which must never fall lower than the market price, Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers.

The record attempt is helping to highlight how Fairtrade cotton protects the livelihoods of farmers in West Africa and India.

To find out more about Fairtrade in Renfrewshire go to www.renfrewshire.gov.uk and look under Community and Living.