Newsroom

25 April 2022

Lotus School wins climate change poster competition

A local school is celebrating after being crowned winners of a climate change competition.

Lotus School students holding up there climate change posters
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Lotus School, located on Langdale Road in Mereside, came top of the environmental poster competition which was held by Blackpool Council and Robertson Construction North West.

The aim of the competition was to encourage young people in Blackpool to think about the town’s climate emergency.

Local high school students were tasked with creating a poster to inspire people to take action on the climate emergency and to give a clear and hopeful message of the benefits of a low-carbon world.

The top five designs have been displayed in the centre of Blackpool, surrounding the new four-star Holiday Inn development which is being delivered by Robertson Construction North West.

Robertson Construction is working with Blackpool Council to regenerate Blackpool's Talbot Gateway and is not only providing quality town centre accommodation for hundreds of visitors, but helping to create a stronger local economy with more jobs.

A student from Lotus School won the top prize in the competition. The winning school was given five trees including two Oak, two Lime and one Turkish Hazel, which have recently been planted within the school grounds to foster further links to the environment and assist with carbon reduction within the school.

The winner and the four runners-up from Educational Diversity and Highfield Leadership Academy also received a family pass to Merlin attractions with a goodie bag.

The competition entries addressed topics such as protecting the environment by recycling, preventing littering, plant-based diets and buying local as well as protecting marine life and improving air quality.

Judges included members from Blackpool Council, Muse Developments, Robertson Construction and Blackpool Youth Climate Action Group.

Melanie Kelsall, Headteacher at Lotus School, said:

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“We are incredibly proud of the students at Lotus School and are pleased that the Thrive class have been able to successfully represent the school in this competition. “The young people are increasingly aware of their own impacts on the environment and are taking pride in their school environments and local communities to reduce their own carbon footprint and highlight how the environment can be positively impacted in and around Blackpool by both locals and tourists. “The young people have produced some wonderful work for this campaign, and they are overjoyed that it has been selected for use in and around Blackpool.”
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Ted, who is the runner up in the competition said:

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“We are always encouraged to do our bit by our teachers. We try to not leave empty classroom lights on, we have the heating on a bit lower and we reduce, reuse and recycle where we can in our classroom. “I am really pleased I came runner up in the competition as I wanted to show people they can get involved with saving our planet. In our lessons, we talk about how we only get one planet and how we should look after it, so I hope my poster helps everybody to think about how brilliant Blackpool is and take care of it.” Lucas said: “We might be the generation who might be able to make a change for the better!”
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The competition was organised in partnership between the council and Robertson Construction, who are one of several responsible construction companies who are striving to do great things to benefit the community, create new local jobs and build more things for families to see and do in Blackpool.

Alongside the council, Robertson Construction is putting local people at the centre of the project to ensure the wider community can benefit.

Dirk Pittaway, regional managing director, Robertson Construction North West, said:

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“As the partner of choice for the regeneration of Talbot Gateway with the council and Muse Developments, we not only want to involve the local community in what we are doing, but have a responsibility to deliver the project with minimal environmental impact. “As one of the first UK businesses in the built environment to achieve carbon neutrality, we are committed to promoting ways in which we can all be more environmentally aware. We have gone on to become a climate positive business and by working with the schools through this competition we have been able to share our learnings and hopefully encourage future generations about the positive actions that they can take to help protect the local and wider environment. “The posters are now on display around the site and in addition to brightening up the space carry important messages for the entire community.”
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Cllr Jane Hugo, Blackpool Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change, said:

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“It has been wonderful to see the response to the competition which shows how deeply young people feel about climate change and their environment. “The competition had a high standard of entries and I know that it wasn’t an easy decision so very well done to the winner and the runners-up. They should be very proud to see their posters being displayed on the hoardings of a key regeneration site in the town centre. “When we declared a climate emergency on 26 June 2019, we recognised the impact of climate change around the world and declared that we must take action in Blackpool. “We are committed to working with businesses such as Robertson as well as residents and partners across the town to make a real change to tackle the climate emergency.”

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