By HELEN COMPSON helen.compson@hexham-courant.co.uk

Last updated at 09:56, Friday, 12 March 2010

PARENTS have been held to account during Fairtrade Fortnight by their offspring checking up on their shopping habits.

Important message: Pictured with some of the wall hangings now on display in Hexham Abbey are, from left, Eloise Marshall, Harry Renwick, Ellen Ricketts, Jessica Wells, Samborne Bush and Ellen Stith.

Armed with the information they gleaned during a round of fun activities at the Sele First School, they have been persuading their families to choose Fairtrade brands.

One of them, eight- year-old Ellen Ricketts, said: “I like knowing all the money goes to poor countries to help the farmers.”

Activities across the school – which gained Fairtrade School status last year – have included a Mad Hatter’s tea party, a mock supermarket ‘selling’ Fairtrade products in the nursery, and a design-a-snack competition using Fairtrade ingredients.

The acme of their achievements over the fortnight, however, has been the production of a series of bright, colourful, themed wall-hangings.

Currently on exhibition in Hexham Abbey (until Sunday), they will ultimately be turned into quilts by a group of willing parents.

First published at 09:42, Friday, 12 March 2010
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk