THE Bishop of Durham has helped to reward a North-East school for their efforts to support Fairtrade.

Hummersknott Academy, in Darlington, is the first secondary school in County Durham and Darlington to be awarded the Fairtrade Foundation’s Fair Achiever Award, which recognises schools which have embedded Fairtrade principals into their daily life.

It follows three years of hard work which has seen members of the school’s Inspire lunchtime club working with the Darlington Area Churches Youth Ministry (DACYM) and All Saints Youth Worker, Katie Hollis, to raise the awareness of Fairtrade principals in the community.

They have held regular stalls and lead assemblies at the academy and local primary schools.

To help celebrate, the Right Reverend Paul Butler, the Bishop of Durham, visited the school to meet the students and present the award.

Martin Stand of DACYM said: “For Hummersknott Academy to obtain this award is a fantastic achievement for both staff and students - it is the accumulation of three years’ hard work.

“We hope that by Hummersknott Academy gaining this award other schools will be encouraged to promote Fairtrade.”

While at the school Bishop Butler also spent time answering ethical and moral questions posed by year 11 students on a range of subjects.

Student Ellen Bell, 13, said: “We as a school can make a small difference, but if every school achieved this award the impact would be much greater.”