March 2006: "Fairtrade Enthusiast of the Year!"

Ellie (second left) helps out during Fairtrade Love Day.

Harriet Thorowgood interviews Fairtrade enthusiast Ellie Matthews during Fairtrade Fortnight.

I catch Ellie Matthews outside the OHS common-room where she is clutching a cup of steaming Fairtrade coffee. As such impromptu high-powered conferencing is routine in the Oxford High School (OHS) corridors, Ellie is only too pleased to share with me the highs and lows of running a Fairtrade common-room...

"So, Ellie, why did you decide the OHS common-room should be Fairtrade?"
Well Hatty, there's been a long-tradition of the Oxford High School common-room being Fairtrade. As a member of the People and Planet group I only wished to expand on this to combat the evils of a free trade world.

"How do you go about this?" I prompt, as she is momentarily dazed by her passion for Fairtrade.
It's really quite simple Hatty (she twinkles), you don't even have to make a special trip to your nearest Oxfam shop as supermarkets are beginning to stock their own Fairtrade ranges - particularly the Co-op which allows you to buy tea and coffee in bulk at cheap prices. Here - try some...

"And what do you buy?" I ask, taking a sip of delicious Fairtrade coffee.
Obviously all the basics - Fairtrade tea, coffee, sugar and hot chocolate. However, recently we've been trying to make things more ecologically friendly with re-usable bin bags and biodegradable washing up liquid.

"But how far do you think this imposes a financial strain on the common-room's economic resources?"
She shakes her head sagely and says: It's really not as expensive as people think and most people are willing to pay the difference.

"Do you feel that this has made a global difference? What of the international repercussions?"
Well Hatty, to think big you have to start small. I'd definitely say that stocking fairly-traded goods has improved the positive currents in the common-room. Now whilst we're sitting around, drinking tea - an activity some shallow and narrow-minded people would see as a waste of time - we're actually making an international difference. We find this very profound, sometimes so profound we are so struck by the momentous nature of these simple acts - far too struck to do other trivial things such as, say, go to the library or write an essay.

Her laughter ripples through the corridor but her mind and heart are far away with the Fairtrade coffee jar... I leave, shaking my head ruefully, and thinking that we have all learned a profound lesson this grey March morning.