Greenleas pupils show ‘green’ credentials

Mar 24 2011 Wirral Council, It's Our World

A team of pupils from Wallasey’s Greenleas Primary School has beaten nine other teams to go forward as Wirral’s representative in the national Climate Week Mini Challenge competition.

Their idea – which was to generate power while out cycling and store it for use back at home – was adjudged to have been the best at Monday’s Wirral Climate Change Mini Challenge competition, held at Wallasey Town Hall.

They fought off stern opposition, with organisations such as Wirral Council, Merseytravel, Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Cheshire and Wirral NHS Partnership Trust and Unilever, all entering teams.

Other young people from West Kirby Primary School and Claremont Specialist College, as well as parishioners from Eastham’s ‘Eco-Congregation’, also took part in the challenge, which coincided with the launch of the national Climate Week 2011.

The challenge required teams of five or six people to use their creativity and innovation to generate ideas that will help to combat climate change. The exact challenge was only revealed at the start of the morning and asked the teams to come up with an idea that would save both energy and money.

The Greenleas idea skillfully combines green transport – cycling – with microgeneration of energy; the energy generated by pedalling charging up a battery which could then by used to power appliances in the home.

Wirral’s Mayor, Cllr. Alan Jennings, was part of the judging panel. He said: “We were thrilled with the quality of entries and were impressed by the enthusiasm with which the challenge was met. It was a very tough job to whittle it down to just one winner. The entry from Greenleas was chosen for its innovative thinking yet simplicity.”

National and regional winners will now be selected by a celebrity panel and will be announced on Friday 25th March.