Students in the Tunbridge Wells area are united in their determination to change the world

Fairtrade Chocolate Project - Community Art Installation

27 Schools Joined The Fairtrade Fortnight Event
Tunbridge Wells Town Centre
Friday 9th March - Monday 26th March
Calverley Precinct

Once again are working with Julian Rowe who was the chief artist on the award winning "Tunbridge Wells Gleaners" project. This year the Fairtrade Fortnight event is based on the theme of 'Fairtrade Chocolate!'

The focus is on chocolate simply because it is a luxury item which we all enjoy without necessarily giving much thought to the desperate plight of those involved in its production.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the UK, however there is a huge body of evidence that shows that it still exists within the chocolate industry today. Find out more here. Many reports link children to cocoa production where they are forced to work as slaves or in intolerable conditions. The project will therefore have a serious side to it and the schools involved will be considering these issues.

The Community Art Project, was installed on Friday 9th March (during Fairtrade Fortnight), and remained in place until 26th March after Freedom Sunday, the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the UK. We plan to dress the trees in Calverley Precinct, in Tunbridge Wells with hundreds of papier maché Easter eggs made by students from 27 local schools. Tree dressing is an ancient tradition in many parts of the British Isles, where objects (usually strips of coloured cloth) were hung on trees near to holy wells or other curative sites by those who felt that they had been cured. Tree dressing as an art form has experienced a revival, we therefore intend to dress the trees in the town with our own homemade eggs. Not only is the Town the home of curative waters, but the general theme of healing fits well with the Fairtrade campaign.

Join us and see if you can find the Fairtrade Easter Egg hidden among the hundreds of Easter Eggs created by students from 27 local schools.

Visit the exhibition trailer next to the millennium clock to sample free Fairtrade goodies and learn more about the project.

March 25th 2007 was Freedom day Add your voice to the campaign for 'traffik free' chocolate as we mark 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade in the UK.

Find out here where to buy your Fairtrade Easter Eggs this Easter

SCHOOLS TAKING PART IN THE ‘FAIRTRADE CHOCOLATE PROJECT’

St. Gregory’s Catholic Comprehensive School

The Skinners School

Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar School

Beechwood Sacred Heart School

Kent College

Broomhill Bank School

Oakley School

Meadows School

Bidborough Church of England Primary School

Broadwater Down Primary School

Claremont Primary School

Langton Green Primary School

Sherwood Park Community School

Southborough Church Of England Primary School

St. Augustine’s Catholic Primary School

St. Barnabas Church of England School

St. James’ Church of England Primary School

St. James’ Church of England Infants School

St. John’s Church of England Primary School

St. Luke’s Church of England Infants School

St. Matthew’s Church of England Primary School

St. Mark’s Church of England Primary School

St. Peters Church of England Primary School

St. Paul’s Church of England Primary School

St. Paul’s Church of England Infants School

Rose Hill School

View previous projects

Read a report on the Stop the Traffik website