EUROPEAN MP Richard Howitt has helped Neale Wade students to break the world record for the longest piece of bunting.
Pupils at the March college are creating part of a two and a half mile long piece of bunting as part of the Fairtrade Fortnight to raise awareness of West African cotton farmers trapped in poverty.
The East of England MEP sewed a European flag into the final triangle which will be sent to the Fairtrade Foundation in London to form a 4,350 metre long piece of bunting to beat the current world record by nearly 2,000 metres.
Richard Howitt MEP said: “The focus of this year’s Fairtrade fortnight is to encourage shoppers to buy Fairtrade certified cotton. Less than 1% of cotton fashion on the high street carries the Fairtrade Mark.
“Neale Wade’s bunting will raise the profile of Fairtrade which ensure that farmers and producers get fairly paid for their work.
“Cotton is the most used fibre in the world and if subsidies are reformed it could propel ten million farmers out of poverty.”
For the record 308,000 individual triangles will be decorated by groups all over the country and sewn together at the end of the fortnight which finishes on Sunday.
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