Isle of Wight schools scoop cash prizes in the Yellow Woods Challenge - 14 September 2004
St. Wilfrids RC Primary School has won £300 and been named the ‘Gold Oak’ winner in the Isle of Wight Yellow Woods Challenge – the simple, educational and fun environmental initiative run by Yellow Pages and the Woodland Trust working with Island Waste Services.During the last four weeks of the summer term, 27 local schools were competing in the Yellow Woods Challenge, which encourages schoolchildren to collect old Yellow Pages directories – featuring walking fingers on the front cover. The schools have collected 8,846 old directories to be recycled into animal bedding by Perry’s Recycling.
The top local honours go to St. Wilfrids RC Primary School for collecting 11.2 old directories per pupil. Chillerton & Rookley Primary School has come second, receives £200 and a ‘Silver Birch’ certificate, whilst third place goes to St. Johns C of E Primary School which receives £100 and a ‘Bronze Beech’ certificate. Yellow Pages will also dedicate a tree in a Woodland Trust wood to St. Wilfrids RC Primary School for collecting the most directories in total.
All schools from the Isle of Wight Challenge will be entered into the Yellow Woods Challenge UK Finals in October 2004 where they will compete with up to 1,200 schools from across the UK to win cash prizes of up to £2,000. And for every pound Yellow Pages awards to schools in prize money, a matching pound is given to the Woodland Trust to help protect native woodland.
In addition to the cash prizes, the top six schools will each receive a Woodland Trust ‘Wild about Woods’ pack to teach children about ancient woodland and every participating school will be given a certificate featuring Kirk, the Challenge campaign mascot.
All participating schools have been given free educational materials containing fun environmental activities to teach children about recycling and woodland conservation.
Lynn Clarke, community liaison officer at Island Waste Services, said: “The Yellow Woods Challenge has been a huge success in the Isle of Wight. Schools have had great fun recycling old directories and learning about the environment and woodland. It has also been a great opportunity for Island Waste Services to raise the profile of recycling locally.”
Richard Duggleby, head of external relations at Yell, publisher of Yellow Pages directories, said: “This year’s Yellow Woods Challenge aims to build on the success of last year and the results from the Isle of Wight prove that young people in the UK are committed to making a difference to their environment. I would like to thank the children, parents, Island Waste Services and Wight Reclamation who worked so hard collecting old Yellow Pages directories.”
For more information about the Yellow Woods Challenge, or to download the educational materials, visit: www.yellow-woods.co.uk.
