Children from ABC Nursery gathered for a special Jolly Trolley book reading at FVC’s Alloa Campus on Tuesday 14 March as part of the college’s Fairtrade Fortnight events.
Students from the Introduction to Childcare course were on hand to read from the book – which was written by HNC Early Education and Childcare students and illustrated by former FVC Art and Design student Michelle Sadler (25) and is thought to be the first book of its kind to help young children to understand the concept of Fairtrade products and the ethos and importance of Fair Trade.
‘Jolly Trolley’ is a character who goes on a mystical style learning adventure after he crashes into some Fairtrade bananas in his supermarket. The students were delighted to use this story to entertain the group of children in the Kildean Suite and helped to raise awareness of Fair Trade.
Susan Fagan, from Alloa based ABC Nursery, said: “This was a fantastic experience for us. The students provided a very interactive session to raise our children's understanding on Fairtrade. On reflection when asked what Fairtrade means, Alba one of our four year olds, stated ‘It is so a farmer gets better money for his bananas’”.
FVC recently won (November 2016) a Scottish Fair Trade Forum Award for Innovation for their work on Jolly Trolley. This award is presented to any individual, group or organisation that has created an innovative campaign or taken a new approach to campaigning for Fair Trade.
Kim Reid from Core and Essential Skills Coordinator and a member of the FVC Fairtrade and Sustainability Committee has also been recording reading the Jolly Trolley story – in the Stirling Campus studios – for a film produced by David Aitken from FVC’s Comms and Marketing Department. This film will be made available as a Fair Trade resource for schools and nurseries across Forth Valley.