THE Penarth Town Fairtrade Forum is an active body of people engaged in a variety of work and events to further the cause of Fairtrade. In the past this has taken the form of fashion shows, stalls, publication of an annual Directory of Businesses and the involvement of a wide range of interested people from Councillors to business people and school children.

Last year saw the first Fairtrade Public Speaking competition for local schools – where children made a 15 minute presentation to a panel of judges on the theme of 'Is Fairtrade a load of bananas?' The quality of the planning and presentation was exceptional and after considerable thought the winner was Albert Road Primary School who received a commemorative trophy and Winners.’ Certificates were given to each of the children.

This year’s event is to take place on March 5 and the forum were delighted with the number of schools who have decided to take part this year.

The new theme is in two parts – junior schools will discuss 'It’s not fair! said the grumpy banana. Why is he sad and how could he made happy again?' while secondary schools have 'What is an unfair banana and how can we abolish them?' as the topic.

The winner of the competition will be invited to make their presentation at the Annual General Meeting of the forum – details of which will be published closer to the time and to which all residents of Penarth are invited.