Almost 200 schoolchildren from Plymouth have put their creativity into action to help promote greener neighbourhoods as part of a Look After Where You Live poster competition.
The competition, organised by LiveWest, invited pupils from four schools, Marine Academy Plymouth (MAP) Primary, MAP Secondary, Riverside Primary School and Victoria Road Primary School and Nursery to design posters encouraging residents to take pride in their communities.
A total of 185 entries were received from pupils ranging from Key Stage 1 through to Year 7, with pupils creating colourful and thoughtful designs. They highlighted important messages such as recycling, cleaning up after pets, litter prevention and tackling fly-tipping with more than a few superheroes making an appearance along the way.
The initiative was funded through £1,000 of funding from contractors as part of our social value programme, alongside £150 from our Community Investment team.
It was developed in response to residents' interest in helping keep their neighbourhoods clean and well cared for. As part of the competition, each participating school received £150 worth of books for their library.
When receiving his prize, Riverside Primary School pupil, Emir, said: “This was the best day ever and I can't believe it.”
Helen Dyer, Family Support Adviser for the school, said: “Thank you very much for the donation of books for the library. They will be greatly appreciated.”
The overall winner, selected by James Reseigh, our Head of Neighbourhoods, was Year 4 pupil Ella-Rose from Victoria Road Primary School and Nursery.
Her winning design featured a superhero-themed character with the message “Don't be a litter monster.” She was very happy to have won and see her poster framed.
The competition was judged by our residents and members of InFocus, our customer scrutiny group, Louise Kelly and Colin Lincoln, who reviewed every entry to select winners from each year group across the participating schools.
Primary school winners received art sets including drawing materials, pens and paper, while Year 7 winners were awarded vouchers.
Louise Kelly, InFocus member and resident, said: “It was great to see the children getting involved in issues around the environment they grow up in.”
Colin Lincoln, InFocus member and resident, added: “I really enjoyed looking at the children's artwork and seeing how much effort they put in. Their designs showed a real understanding of the importance of caring for where they live.”
The Look After Where You Live campaign aims to encourage residents to take pride in their neighbourhoods and work together to create cleaner and more welcoming communities.
Alison Knight, our Community Connector, said: “I really enjoyed this opportunity to run this creative project aimed at children and to see the amazing posters they designed.
”The competition encouraged young people to think about how they can make a positive difference in their communities. We will also be using some of the posters on noticeboards and signage to encourage even more people to look after where they live.“
You can see the overall winning poster and the winning entries from every year group, here.