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Fifteen year-old, Alex Robertson of Bispham High School & Arts College, Blackpool will travel to the Caribbean next month (9 –15 August) to visit Fairtrade banana farmers in the Windward Islands. She won the trip of a lifetime by coming top in the national PrintIT! competition.

 
More than 23,000 students from 574 schools across the country took part in the national PrintIT! competition, which was curriculum-mapped to their GCSE Graphic Products and Product Design course.

PrintIT! is a school-based education programme aimed at encouraging young people to pursue on careers in the UK printing industry. Now in its third year, the initiative is a joint venture between the Fairtrade Foundation, Proskills, PrintIT!, the printing industry, and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. It is aimed at Year 9 and Year 10 students studying GCSE Graphic Products and Product Design.

Alex won first prize for planning a print-based campaign, for a coffee shop using Fairtrade products and in the process, gaining an understanding of the range of careers available in the print industry.  ‘Before I started my project I didn't know a great deal about Fairtrade,” says Alex. “I had seen their logo on some products in supermarkets but hadn't really taken much notice. When I looked into Fairtrade, I found it really interesting, especially how by choosing products that had been fairly produced and paying a fair price for the products, we can make a real difference.’

Alex’s design consists of a Fairtrade cup of hot chocolate which unwraps like a bar of chocolate. She will travel to St. Lucia to visit the Windward Island Farmers Association (WINFA). During the trip, Alex will learn how Fairtrade farmers in St Lucia benefit from the Fairtrade price and premium.  More than 85% of all bananas grown in the Windward Islands carry the FAIRTRADE Mark. This means that farmers get a higher price for their bananas, as well as a premium which is invested in commercial, social or environmental projects. On St Lucia the premium has been used to fund scholarships for farmer’s children, improve farm roads, run adult literacy programmes and, to build a community centre.

Veronica Pasteur, Campaigns Officer at the Fairtrade Foundation, said: ‘Congratulations to Alex. Her eye-catching campaign on Fairtrade really deserved the top prize.  We are delighted that she has this opportunity to meet farmers and find out first-hand the difference that Fairtrade has made – not just for the farmers themselves, but also for some of the young people in the community too.’

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For further information or to arrange an interview with Alex please email: faith.mall@fairtrade.org.uk  or martine.julseth@fairtrade.org.uk. or call 0207 440 8597

Notes to Editors

Fairtrade Foundation: The FAIRTRADE Mark is a certification mark and a registered trademark of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) of which the Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member. The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body which awards the FAIRTRADE Mark to products which meet international Fairtrade standards, as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than 7.5 million people - farmers, workers and their families - across 59 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system. For a full list of products or more information see www.fairtrade.org.uk .

PrintIT!  Organised by Proskills, the sector skills council for the printing industry. PrintIT! is the first ever industry-wide educational initiative to address the need to attract young people into the printing industry.  For further information about this unique educational project visit: www.printit.org.uk

The UK printing industry:  The printing, packaging and graphics communications industry is part of the UK's fourth largest manufacturing industry.  In 2002 sales of printing and publishing, pulp, paper and paper products were £45.4 billion. 

The value of sales in the printing industry is over £14.1 billion, 1.4% of UK GDP (£1,044.1 billion in 2002) and an approximate Gross Value Added of £6.9 billion.  It makes a positive balance to the UK trade balance. In 2002 the printing sector’s contribution was £438 million, improving to almost £609 million in 2003.  The UK printing industry employs around 191,000 people in more than 18,000 companies, spread throughout the UK.

PrintIT! Key Partners:

BAPC, BPIF, Fairtrade Foundation, IPEX 2006, PICON, Robert Horne Group, Specialist Schools Trust, Stationers Company Educational Charity.

Print IT! Sponsors:

Canon, Duplo International, Fujifilm, HP, Image Reports, Kodak, Polestar, PrintMedia Management, Print & Paper Monthly, PrintWeek, Printing World magazine, Screen Printing & Digital Imaging Magazine, Ricoh, The Danwood Group, Renz Binding and Laminating Systems, London College of Communications, Total Print Expo, IPIA, Pantone, AD Communications, Direct design Associates, ouryearbook, Belmont Press, Plus Point PR, Bespoke Agency, Tech-ni-Fold.

PrintIT! Supporters:

Graphic Arts Equipment, Ripware, Russell-Webb, Tech-ni-Fold