Telford and Wrekin schools triumph in Yellow Woods Challenge - 20 May 2003
Youngsters at Aqueduct Primary School in Telford have won £300 to help improve their environment after collecting the most Yellow Pages directories locally in a new schools recycling initiative.The Yellow Woods Challenge, run by Yellow Pages, The Directory Recycling Scheme and the Woodland Trust working together with the Borough of Telford and Wrekin, offered local schools cash prizes in return for recycling old directories. The Challenge aimed to educate schoolchildren about the importance of recycling and conservation, reduce the amount of paper going to landfill and to support the Woodland Trust.
Aqueduct Primary School came first, collecting 1018 old directories – the equivalent of 4.43 per pupil, and now receives its top cash prize from Yellow Pages to spend on improving the school’s environment.
St Lawrence CE Primary School, Preston on the Weald Moor, came second, collecting 3.74 directories per pupil and winning £200. Sir Alexander Fleming Primary School came third, collecting 2.79 Yellow Pages per pupil and winning £100.
The Yellow Woods Challenge is a simple, fun and educational competition that also aims to help the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. For every pound Yellow Pages has awarded to schools, a pound will be donated to the Woodland Trust to help protect native woodland.
In total, 46 schools and 12,087 pupils across the borough took on the Yellow Woods Challenge, collecting 9,040 old Yellow Pages in just four weeks. These will be recycled by the Borough of Telford and Wrekin and Leicester Paper Company into animal bedding.
Each school that participated will be given a certificate, named after a woodland tree, according to the total number of directories collected. The six schools that collected the most directories in total will win CD-roms and videos to teach children about the wonders of ancient woodland.
All the schools from the Borough of Telford and Wrekin Challenge will automatically be entered into the Yellow Woods Challenge UK Finals where they will compete with up to 1,000 schools across the UK to win one of three top prizes of £2,000.
Anne Tuckley, recycling officer with the Borough of Telford and Wrekin, said: “This has been a very exciting competition and we are delighted that teachers and pupils have shown such enthusiasm during the Challenge. I wish our local schools all the best of luck in the UK Finals in September.”
Richard Duggleby, head of external relations with Yell, the publisher of Yellow Pages, said: “The response of schoolchildren is a very encouraging indication of how seriously they take issues relating to the environment and its protection. I’d like to thank the Council for organising the Yellow Woods Challenge in Telford and Wrekin and also congratulate all the children, teachers and parents who worked so hard to make the Challenge a success.
