Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, has been out on the streets of Lewisham supporting Fairtrade.
To mark Fairtrade Fortnight and as part of Fairtrade’s "Go Bananas" campaign he has been handing out free fair trade bananas to shoppers in the Lewisham shopping centre.
Lewisham Council was supporting a Fairtrade stall in the shopping centre on Friday and Saturday, 6 – 7 March. Every shopper who pledged to support Fairtrade was given a free banana. By the end of Saturday over 500 bananas had been distributed.
Sir Steve was delighted that so many people showed their support: “I’m really pleased Fairtrade has gained all these new fair trade converts.
“Lewisham is proud to be a Fairtrade borough and will continue to encourage consumers to make a small change in what they eat, drink and wear. And by choosing Fairtrade we can allow others to make changes towards a better life as it enables producers in developing countries to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty.”
Shoppers were also offered free tasters of fair trade food, including snackbars and chocolate. There was also a competition, with a fairtrade hamper for the winner.
Elsewhere around the borough on Friday, five cafes were giving out free cups of fair trade coffee and tea to their first 50 customers. The cafes included:
- M Cafe and The Bear Cafe in Deptford
- Sugahill in Sydenham
- Oscars in Ladywell
- Circle Cafe at the Broadway Theatre in Catford.