PORT Talbot has gone bananas for Fairtrade!

It is now officially a Fairtrade town.

A steering group made up of residents, schools, churches and others organised a series of Fairtrade events in order to gain the prestigious accolade.

An event to officially launch the fact Port Talbot is a Fairtrade town was held at the Aberafan Shopping Centre yesterday.

The event included raising awareness by talking to shoppers, and youngsters from nearby schools also did their bit to promote the messages of Fairtrade.

The Fairtrade scheme is aimed at ensuring that farm owners and workers in the Third World are guaranteed a fair price for their products.

Neath Port Talbot first achieved Fairtrade County Status in 2007.

The steering group for Port Talbot was set up by Katherine Britton, of Keep Wales Tidy.

"We are delighted to get the status and we have been working on it for two years," she said.

"We started the steering group in 2010.

"The group has worked really hard over two years to achieve this result and has received fantastic support from the council's climate change team, MP Hywel Francis and David Rees, our AM, who has sat on the group and attended events along with his predecessor Brian Gibbons.

"We have held a lot of community events, like coffee mornings and Fairtrade days and have been part of Fairtrade fortnight."

Ms Britton said they now hoped to continue their efforts and maintain their Fairtrade successes.

"We have got to keep up the momentum as it can be withdrawn," she said.

"Annually we have to send a report to say what we have done and how we have improved.

"It is very important to keep it going."

The group found they had achieved Fairtrade status for the town in November.

"We got the status in November but with Christmas and everything it wasn't feasible to have a public announcement then so we thought we would wait until January," said Ms Britton.

"The two schools who have come down for it were Eastern Primary and Sandfields Primary and the children have been giving out leaflets and stickers to the shoppers.

"They are so enthusiastic.

"The shoppers listen to them more than me!

"The launch went really well and we are just looking forward to more events being held in the coming year."

The steering group is made up of residents and representatives of St Agnes' Church, Eastern Primary School, Soroptimist International, Neath Port Talbot College, cafes and businesses.

Aberavon AM Mr Rees said he was delighted with the news.

"This recognises the commitment that both business people and shoppers in the town have shown to supporting fair trade across the globe," he said.

"I congratulate Kathryn Britton and her team in their endeavours to gain this recognition for Port Talbot.

"We can now proudly state that Neath Port Talbot is a Fairtrade area."

gill.roberts@swwmedia.co.uk