Energy saving ideas thought up by students from Hexham have seen them secure first place in a county wide school environmental competition.

Pupils from Queen Elizabeth High School formed a pupil working group to introduce environmentally friendly projects around the school. These included: organising an eco awareness day; using produce from the school's orchard and vegetable garden in the sixth form café; replacing polystyrene cups with mugs that the pupils brought in from home and organising a paper saving day.

The environmental competition, organised by Northumberland County Council, was aimed at getting young people from across the county to think about what they and their schools could do to help address climate change.

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In January pupils from high schools around Northumberland were invited to a workshop to explore the effects of climate change on both a global and local scale and what they could do to help make a difference.

Each participating school was given £100 to take away and use to help set up an environmental project in their school.

The pupils returned at the end of last month to present their schemes to a panel of judges.

The event was initiated and organised by Northumberland County Council's Youth Cabinet with the support of the council’s climate change and sustainability team and the North East Climate Change Partnership. It complements work being done with staff and governors in schools across the county.

The winning school was given £500 to progress their project further. The young people involved also received a prize of £250.

(CD/GK)