PUPILS at Greenfylde First School were joined by children from Sunny Ile Pre-School to help Ilminster Fairtrade group promote Fairtrade last week.

The mammoth banana eat saw more than 350 children eat bananas and learn more about the importance of Fairtrade in Ilminster and further afield.

The idea for the big banana eat came from Roger Gurner who arranged the event as an encore to the recent Fairtrade Fortnight and the event was made possible due to a generous donation of bananas from Tesco in Ilminster.

Greenfylde head teacher Claire Oaten said: “When Roger approached the school to take part in this event, we were very pleased to participate so that we could do our part in encouraging the younger citizens of Ilminster to think more about Fairtrade products.

“Living in the first Fairtrade town in south Somerset we want our pupils to be aware of the ethics and values that are central to it and to understand that these are important not only in Ilminster but across the world.

“It was certainly a very different afternoon with everyone sitting out on the playground enjoying eating their bananas but one that the children will remember along with the message of Fairtrade.”