Plenary, 14 Jun 2006

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Official Report 464KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business today, as it is every Wednesday, is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Connie Pearce of Stonelaw high school in Glasgow.

I am delighted to address you on behalf of Stonewall high fair traders—a young co-operatives fair trade enterprise—and thank you for this honour.

What and how would you like to learn? The empowerment given through that unique question in one religious and moral education class had a positive, liberating effect on us, and its impact continues. We opted to invite speakers, including a Christian Aid speaker who inspired us to become active supporters of fair trade.

From that exercise in democracy, we now have a sustainable, ethical fair trade enterprise, involving pupils from all year groups. We have ownership of the business and are totally democratic, discussing and voting on stock, prices and selling venues. We enjoy the healthy flexibility of voluntary participation in varied activities so we do not get bored or stressed. Our team working, business and people skills have developed considerably.

We love to make sales and profit, but it is a healthy enterprise, because it is profit without victims. The goods that we sell come from producers in developing countries who are empowered in co-operative businesses and have a guaranteed income, with no child labour.

When we started out, we could never have anticipated that our sales would exceed £28,000. After reinvesting in stock, we send all our profits to Dr Ruth Bland, a British doctor in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, who uses the money to sponsor the education of AIDS orphans. Dr Bland recently wrote:

"It was amazing to see some of the pupils you have now supported for several years, … how keen they are to learn, how well and healthy they are looking, and how much pride the carers have in them. One of the carers stood up to speak on behalf of all the people and asked that we should thank you for your continued care and support of them, even though you have never met them or seen their homes. This seemed to be the overwhelming feeling, that people from so far away should be concerned about their welfare".

We in Stonelaw high fair traders are passionate about giving those children the rights that we take for granted in Scotland. We recognise our global responsibility and are contributing to developing their skills, tapping their potential, enabling them to improve their communities and enriching their lives.

Young people in Scotland are not citizens in waiting; we are local and global citizens now. We urge you to promote youth involvement in co-operative ethical enterprises so that more young Scots can gain confidence and compassion and fight poverty through trade, making the world a fairer, better, brighter place.

Thank you.