Mini Vinnies | St. Mary & St. Thomas Aquinas

Fairtrade Fortnight 2019

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Mrs G Wilders • 0 Comments

Fairtrade Fortnight runs from 25th February until 10th March this year and so is straight after half term!

This year’s campaign is about ensuring that cocoa farmers are paid fairly for their work and are able to live a dignified life.

Can you “Bake with a Difference” for Fairtrade?

We will be having a competition to see who can bake the tastiest cake or biscuits with the most delicious Fairtrade ingredients. If you want to enter please collect a form from the office from Friday 15th February.

Please bring in your cakes on Monday 4^th March when they will be judged and prizes awarded.

At 2.30 pm on that day our Mini Vinnies will host a Big Brew Coffee Afternoon when the cakes will be available to buy. Please come along and support Fairtrade!

Play Fair for Fairtrade!

Posted on January 26, 2019 by Mrs G Wilders • 0 Comments

Today, our Mini Vinnies presented an assembly about footballs and Fairtrade. We have recently bought some Fairtrade footballs and rugby balls and wanted to tell everyone about why we bought them. Did you know that 40 million footballs are made every year? Also 3 out of every 4 footballs are made in Pakistan in villages around Sialkot. Many of the balls are stitched by hand and an experienced stitcher can make up to 5 a day. The stitchers do not earn enough to feed their familes and send their children to school.

However, a stitcher making a Fairtade football earns almost twice as much per ball as they do for a non-Fairtrade football. In addition, some of what you pay for the football goes to health, education and business projects that aim to help the families earn a living wage from stitching

Sadly, only 5 out of every 100 footballs are Fairtrade balls and if more people asked for Fairtrade balls, Talon and other football makers would be happy to make them and pay their workers a living wage.

Choosing today to buy Fairtrade is a very good way for us to say thank you for all the good things we have.

Mini Vinnies visit Joe’s Place

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Mrs G Wilders • 0 Comments

Last Wednesday, some Mini Vinnies visited Joe’s Place in Gateshead to donate bags of food items which Year 5 had collected for their Harvest Assembly.

Joe’s Place opens on a Wednesday in St Joseph’s church hall to offer a hot meal, snacks and company to homeless people in the North East. The children learned about the work of Joe’s Place and found out which foods would be the most useful to collect. In addition, Joe’s place will be having a Christmas Party for the homeless on the 19th December and will be giving each person attending a gift of toiletries.

If you can help, please send in a toiletry item such as soap, toothbrush/paste, shower gel or deodorant to the school office.

The Mini Vinnies will ensure they are delivered to Joe’s Place in time for the party.

Would you like to fill a shoebox?

Posted on October 13, 2018 by Mrs G Wilders • 0 Comments

Our Mini Vinnies have been encouraging everyone to fill a shoebox for families living in poverty in Eastern Europe.

They have collected hats, toys and other items and have been selling them for 20p on the yard after school, to help with the cost of filling a shoebox.

If you can help, please bring your wrapped, packed and sealed shoebox into school with two £1 coins attached by Monday 29th October, the first week back after half term.

Thank you

Mini Vinnies Celebration

Posted on October 13, 2018 by Mr J. Craig • 0 Comments

This week in school we held a beautiful Mini Vinnies commissioning ceremony led by Mr Michael Willcock. The children were presented with certificates and badges to recognise their commitment to helping others both locally and around the world. This ceremony was a wonderful way to welcome our new Mini Vinnies from Year 4 and 5.