Michael Eavis goes bananas

Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis has donated a part of the 'good causes' money raised via this year's Festival to the Latin American banana industry, reports BBC online (here).

	Michael & Emily Eavis

Eavis gave £74,000 to Banana Link, a charity that aims to help banana workers represent themselves in talks with their employers and the EU supermarkets that buy their produce, to give farmers a "fairer deal". The money will be used to employ union leaders in Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Mr Eavis, himself a working farmer, told the BBC: "Farmers and farm workers, no matter where they are in the world, are entitled to a fair deal and a fair award for their skills and labours. It is essential that farmers and farm workers stick together and I see this gift to Banana Link as an example of us working together towards these ends."

Jacqui Mackay of Banana Link said: "This is an extraordinary act of international solidarity between people at either end of the banana supply chain illustrating the key role that British trade unions have to play in poverty alleviation in Latin America and the rest of the developing world."

Around £2M raised from this year's festival will be donated to various good causes, including the major beneficiaries - Oxfam, Greenpeace & WaterAid - as well as many smaller local good causes also benefitting.

Details of how tickets will be sold for Glastonbury Festival 2008 are expected to be announced early in December - we'll of course have the details for you when they're available. Next year's Festival will take place from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th June, with the site open to early arrivals from Wednesday 25th June.

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