Welwyn and Hatfield schools scoop cash prizes in the Yellow Woods Challenge - 28 June 2004
Templewood School has won £300 and been named the ‘Gold Oak’ winner in the Welwyn Hatfield Yellow Woods Challenge – the simple, educational and fun environmental initiative run by the Yellow Pages Directory Recycling Scheme and the Woodland Trust working with Welwyn Hatfield District Council.For eight weeks, 35 local schools have been competing in the Yellow Woods Challenge, which encourages schoolchildren to collect old Yellow Pages directories – featuring sandcastles on the front cover. Local schools have collected 2,591 old directories for recycling into craft paper by Frogmore Paper Mill, Apsley. The paper will be donated by Yell to all schools participating in the Yellow Woods Challenge across the UK.
The top local honours go to Templewood School for collecting 2.4 old directories per pupil. Stream Woods JMI & Nursery School has come second, receives £200 and a ‘Silver Birch’ certificate, whilst third place goes to Oaklands Primary School which receives £100 and a ‘Bronze Beech’ certificate. Yellow Pages will also dedicate a tree in a Woodland Trust wood to Templewood School for collecting the most directories in total.
All schools from the Welwyn Hatfield 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.
Hugo van Kempen, waste awareness officer with Welwyn Hatfield District Council, said: “The Yellow Woods Challenge has been a huge success in Welwyn and Hatfield. Schools have had great fun recycling old directories and learning about the environment and woodland. It has also been a great opportunity for the council 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 Welwyn and Hatfield prove that young people in the UK are committed to making a difference to their environment. I would like to thank the children, parents and council 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.
