David Lammy MP visits Tottenham youth centre with top Ghanaian music star

On Friday, 27th November, 2009 Rt Hon David Lammy, MP for Tottenham and Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property, visited the Bruce Grove Youth Centre with a very special guest – Ghanaian musician Tinny, star of the recent Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk campaign.

Tinny performed with the young people attending the youth centre, toured the facility and spoke to staff and volunteers about Ghana and Fairtrade. Many of the young people had recently taken part in a series of Fairtrade workshops and were keen to hear Tinny’s perspective on the impact of Fairtrade upon Ghana’s cocoa farming communities. Cadbury has a long relationship with Ghana stretching back 101 years, where it helped to found the cocoa industry there.

The Bruce Grove Youth Centre is located in the heart of Bruce Grove and is currently the only statutory youth provision in the area, consisting of a £3million state of the art building which attracts local young people in the 13-17 year age group from Bruce Grove and across Tottenham and Haringey.

Tinny appears in the current Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk TV advert – filmed in a cocoa farming community in Ghana - performing his single. This follows the recent Fairtrade certification of Cadbury Dairy Milk across Britain and Ireland, and builds on the work of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, a ten-year initiative launched in 2008, investing £45 million in securing the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cocoa farmers in Ghana, India, South-East Asia and the Caribbean.

Tinny’s visit to the youth centre gave him an opportunity to meet young people from the UK who share his passion for music and to hear more about the workshops in fashion, drama, music and dance. Speaking after his visit, Tinny said: “I loved meeting all the young people here and seeing their passion for music and for Fairtrade. It’s a fantastic centre and does a great job giving these kids the facilities to learn new skills – whether that’s about important issues like Fairtrade, music, dance or drama.”

David Lammy said “I was delighted to welcome such a big star from Ghana to Tottenham and to help promote the value of fairtrade to young people in my constituency. It was great to see them so engaged in such a positive community project”.

Berkeley Gardener of the Bruce Grove Youth centre said “Having learned about Fairtrade in recent weeks our young people were keen to hear how Tinny had got involved with Cadbury’s Fairtrade campaign. Also, as Tinny’s a big star in Ghana it was great for our music and dance students to meet and take inspiration from him.”

Zingolo is out now on Glass and a Half Full Records and is available via iTunes. Cadbury profits from single sales go to the charity CARE International to fund education programmes in Ghana.
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Notes to the editor:

About Cadbury plc
Cadbury plc is a leading global confectionery company with an outstanding portfolio of chocolate, gum and candy brands. It has number one or number two positions in over 20 of the world’s 50 largest confectionery markets. Cadbury also has the largest and most broadly spread emerging markets business of any confectionery company. With origins stretching back nearly 200 years, Cadbury’s brands include many global, regional and local favourites including Cadbury, Creme Egg, Flake and Green & Black’s in chocolate; Trident, Clorets, Dentyne, Hollywood, Bubbaloo and Stimorol in gum; and Halls, Cadbury Eclairs and The Natural Confectionery Company in candy. For more information visit www.cadbury.com

About the FAIRTRADE Mark and Fairtrade Foundation
The FAIRTRADE Mark is a certification mark and a registered trademark of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) of which the Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member. The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body which licenses the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products which meet international Fairtrade standards. This independent consumer label appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than 7 million people - farmers, workers and their families - across 59 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system. For more information on Fairtrade in the UK, visit www.fairtrade.org.uk and in Ireland, visit www.fairtrade.ie


About Cadbury Cocoa Partnership
In 2008, the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership was established, committing £45 million into cocoa farming in Ghana, India, South-East Asia and the Caribbean, with the overarching objective of supporting sustainable cocoa communities and improving the lives of half a million cocoa farmers and their families by 2018.

In Ghana, a community-centred governance structure has been set up in partnership with UNDP, the Government of Ghana, local trade union experts and our partners CARE, VSO and World Vision. Work has begun in 100 Cocoa Partnership communities – working with our partners to write tailored Community Action Plans that enable villages to identify and meet their needs.

About CARE International (Registered charity number 292506)
CARE International is one of the world’s leading international relief and development organisations, reaching more than 55 million people in 70 countries and helping them to lift themselves out of poverty. CARE has a wide range of development programmes in Ghana and is an implementing partner in the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership. For more information visit www.careinternational.org.uk