A community showed its mettle as a Fairtrade Town with a series of events and activities.
Big Brews and coffee mornings at all four Ponteland churches during Fairtrade Fortnight raised more than £1,200 for the charity Traidcraft Exchange, which helps farmers and producers in developing countries with advice and resources and assists them to link together with others to form co-operatives so they have greater bargaining power.
At these events, and a Fairtrade coffee morning at Merton Hall, a Traidcraft stall sold a wide range of Fairtrade products from chocolate and biscuits to crafts and hand made cards. During the two weeks, the value of products sold from the stalls exceeded £600.
In addition, children took part in a Treasure Trail around 14 local businesses, shops and community organisations, which displayed a Fairtrade product for them to find.