Equipment: Powerpoint (and means of presenting it) – Download: PowerPoint | Keynote (Mac), prizes (ideally Fairtrade), Fairtrade Matters 90 second film – Download here

On arrival: Have the first slide of the powerpoint with the Martin Luther quote on as students come in for assembly.

Introduce: Start off the assembly by introducing yourself, what you do etc.

Game: Explain to the group that you’re going to start this morning’s assembly by playing a simple memory game. Explain that there will be lots of random items on the screen and one will disappear and the group have to guess what’s missing (Note: Make sure you haven’t said the theme of the assembly at this point!).

Play a few rounds of the game depending how well students respond.

(Answers: 1 – Cinnamon, 2 – Bananas, 3 – Ball, 4 – Juice, 5 – Hot Chocolate)

Ask: The items in that game might have seemed a little random but they all had one thing in common. Who can guess what that common theme is? (You may need to give the students a hint or point out that it may not be obvious. Having a prize for the correct answer at this point also encourages students to answer)

Answer: All the objects in that game are Fairtrade (show the slide with the Fairtrade logo).

Explain: Some of you may know that this week is part of Fairtrade fortnight…2 weeks in the year where the aim is to make people more aware of Fairtrade.

Fairtrade is simply a way of making sure that the people who work hard to grow the food and things we enjoy are looked after, that they’re paid fairly and that their communities have access to education and healthcare…things that we often take for granted…and that little logo makes a real difference in people’s lives!

Film: Show the 90 Seconds ‘Fairtrade Matters’ film which you can download here: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/en/resources-library/multimedia/Films

Explain: For me Fairtrade is really important for lots of reasons and I try and buy it when possible for example I’ll only buy Fairtrade chocolate (give examples of your own here).

But 2 really important reasons are that:

1 – Fairtrade looks after people – As I said earlier it makes sure there’s access to healthcare and education but it also means that children aren’t involved in the production of Fairtrade crops because the Fairtrade foundation regularly visits their partners. This means that instead of having to work children can go to school and be educated.

2 – For me, as  Christian I believe everyone is important, created and loved by God. Jesus says for us to ‘Love our neighbour as we love ourselves’ and for me Fairtrade is a really good way of looking after people who otherwise I might not be able to help.

Challenge: So, as you leave assembly this morning I want to challenge you this week to try and spot and buy something that’s Fairtrade…it might be picking Fairtrade juice at lunchtime, buying some Fairtrade Malteasers after school or having a Fairtrade banana for breakfast!

Remember that each item you buy with the Fairtrade logo on makes a real difference to people’s lives.

Thanks for listening