Members of Holme Valley Fairtrade are delighted to say a huge Fairtrade WELCOME to Marielle O'Neill, who is the new Chair for Kirklees Fairtrade Forum. 
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Marielle O'Neill, Labour and Co-operative councillor for Batley West is delighted to be the new Chair of Kirklees Fairtrade Forum after the sudden death of her beloved father, Peter O'Neill.


Marielle,  27, said; 'I am honoured to be the Chair of Kirklees Fairtrade Forum and hope to continue my dad's great work. My dad was passionate about Fairtrade and ensuring workers world-wide get a fair deal for their work. Both my parents enjoyed attending Fairtrade events.'


Having worked in Parliament and on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Marielle takes a keen interest in International Relations and the impact globalisation has on a grassroots level both in the UK and over-seas. 


Marielle said, 'In today's world we really do have a global marketplace but we have to understand that the brand of bananas we buy at the supermarket has a huge impact on the life of the farmer in Ecuador. Paying a few pence extra doesn't make much difference to many of us in the UK but it can greatly improve the life of the farmer and his family.'


As well as Fairtrade, Cllr O'Neill's political interests include American Politics, Education and promoting women's rights and equality and diversity.


Although Peter O'Neill will be greatly missed throughout the Fairtrade movement, Holme Valley Fairtrade are certain that Marielle is the perfect person to step in to the role of Chair of Kirklees Fairtrade Forum.

​Holme Valley Fairtrade welcome Marielle with open arms, and can't wait to begin working alongside her!

As one of the first Fairtrade schools in Kirklees: Holme Junior and Infant School are delighted to become members of Holme Valley Fairtrade!
 
The children at Holme School know a lot about Fairtrade and often bring Fairtrade into community events, not least their coffee mornings where all were involved in every stage; Reception children designed and decorated Fairtrade themed bunting, Key Stage 2 children designed brilliant posters to promote the event around the community. Working with the school cook, Class One made the cakes and biscuits and proudly described the Fairtrade ingredients to visiting parents.
 
Throughout the afternoon parents were welcomed into busy Fairtrade focussed classrooms and invited to create the Fairtrade logo for themselves using recycled materials, or take part in a Geography activity to map Fairtrade or even use the school iPads for market research into the major supermarkets commitment to Fairtrade.
 
Alongside the Fairtrade refreshments the students and teachers were joined by fairandfunky with a pop-up shop to launch their rice challenge. Year 6 children helped on the fairandfunky pop-up shop, selling Fairtrade gifts to fellow students and parents using impressive mental maths as their customers all clamoured for attention at the same time!
 
Fairtrade is embedded into life at the school from the cups of tea in the staff room, ingredients in the school kitchen, to the footballs used by the children at playtime. Fairtrade rice and chocolate packaging is used to teach art, and Fairtrade chocolate becomes a focus for cross curricular learning with Class 2. “We’re a small school making a big difference,” says head teacher Mrs Anne Swain, “our strong links with local and global communities really enrich children’s experiences. We’re very excited to have Fairtrade at the heart of our learning in this way.”