Alex Burghart, MP for Brentwood and Ongar, visited Woodlands School Hutton Manor in Essex to congratulate young environmentalists for winning a £3,000 sustainability grant, after they brought home first prize in BRITA’s ‘Whale Watchers competition’.
Over 470 schools up and down the country took part in the competition, which tasked children to create a new design for BRITA’s recycling bins which would inspire others to reduce, reuse and recycle.
The winning entry came from Woodlands School Hutton Manor pupil Alice Witham, who was awarded a BRITA bundle alongside the £3,000 grant, which will be spent on an environmental initiative of the students choosing.
Pupils were given the chance to showcase their winning entries to Mr Burghart MP, as well as ask questions and share their sustainability efforts, including a vegetable patch. The student’s climate club plans to use the funds to extend their projects and invest in litter picking equipment.
Alex Burghart MP said: “I was delighted to meet the students at Woodland Hutton Manor and hear about their enthusiasm for protecting the environment. I am very proud that our local students are leading the way in thinking up new and creative sustainability initiatives, and I congratulate them for winning BRITA’s Whale Watchers competition with their wonderful designs”
Donna Burkert, Deputy Head Teacher at Woodlands School, Hutton Manor, said: “We were absolutely thrilled when we found out that Alice had won the Brita competition. The challenge enabled us to investigate a critical issue in a way that the children could engage with and I thought that their ideas were wonderful, but I never dreamed that we would win! Our student run climate club have already suggested a whole range of ways to use the prize money to further boost their eco-friendly message across the school.”
David Hall, Managing Director of BRITA UK said: “With hundreds of schools across the country participating in our Whale Watchers competition, there were so many creative and inspiring entries to choose from. Alice was a very worthy winner and we’re really looking forward to seeing the winning design on BRITA recycling bins all over the UK. Many congratulations to everyone at Woodlands School Hutton Manor and we look forward in seeing how you use the grant to drive forwards your fantastic sustainability projects.”
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