On Saturday 5^th March 2011 at Hackney Town Hall students from Skinners’ Academy gave a wonderful presentation on their Achievers International company, and explained that they are importing and exporting Fairtrade products with their partner schools.

Selda Kurtuldu, teacher co-ordinator of Skinners’ Academy, provided an introduction about their involvement with Achievers International. She is very proud of the fact that the students will be importing and exporting Fairtrade products with their international partners. Indeed, it is very appropriate and quite ingenious that Skinners’ Academy are using Achievers International as a vehicle to promote Fairtrade.

Skinners’ Academy currently has an amazing five companies taking part in Achievers, and are partnered with schools in five different countries across four continents.  The group of students that attended the meeting at Hackney Town Hall have called themselves SA International and are partnered with Alice Smith School in Malaysia.

Each pupil introduced themselves and stated their job title and role; for example, one student was Managing Director, and another was Head of Imports and Exports. They explained that they are hoping to be the first school/academy in Hackney to achieve Fairtrade status.

The company is currently working on a catalogue of products to trade with their partners, mainly comprising of cotton and chocolate products. Through market research and discussion within the group, they came to the conclusion that chocolate would be the ideal product to trade. The rationale for this was that the Skinners’ students wanted to experience what Malaysian chocolate products tasted like – and felt that their partners in Malaysia should experience what British chocolate products taste like.

TV's Aggie Mackenzie who attended the meeting was hugely impressed with the group from Skinners' Academy and congratulated them on their work in Achievers International.

(Above) The SA International t-shirt made of Fairtrade Cotton

(Above) Students and attendees

(Below) Three members of SA International giving their presenatation

Attendees of the Fairtrade Meeting including TV's Aggie Mackenzie (right)

Councillor Ian Rathbone, who is also the co-ordinator of the Hackney Fairtrade Group stated that we are an international community and must work together towards the greater good. Indeed, the students of Skinners’ Academy have demonstrated this by importing and exporting Fairtrade products with their international partner schools, and thus doing their part to promote Fairtrade.

The Achievers International Team