ECO CLUB MEMBERS SHARE THEIR WORK AT IMPORTANT CLIMATE ACTION EVENT
08 July 2022 | Jill Lundberg | Posted in: Community, Student Leaders
We were delighted to represent the school and college at Richmondshire Climate Action Group’s ‘Heat, Eat and Meet’ event at the Garden Rooms at Tennants, Leyburn. Eight members of the school’s Eco Club joined Miss Spittlehouse to present the fantastic environmental work the students are spearheading in school. The students actively took part in an open discussion with other community groups and members of the public about how we can strive for a more environmentally and affordable future.
They engaged with the public about a range of different topics including: the benefits of composting, growing our own food, ways to reduce our energy usage and how to create a more caring community. Tennants were wonderful hosts and provided an excellent exhibition space with a huge variety of stalls and activities that the pupils explored across the morning, including cooking demonstrations and a pedal-powered smoothie machine!
The students were incredibly enthusiastic about the work they have completed so far with the Eco Club and ways in which they could develop this further. They made connections with other eco-providers from the local community, such as Richmond’s Just The Job and the Newton-Le-Willows Climate Action Group who gave the Eco Club over 20 plants to help us get started with a herb garden at school.
Miss Spittlehouse said: “The event was a huge success and a fantastic opportunity to enable the pupils to connect across a community action project in which they confidently liaised with different groups, interacted with the different stalls and demonstrated the Richmond School values superbly.”
Holly Brydon, Year 13 student and the mastermind behind the college’s Big Garden Project, represented the school and college during the afternoon and was invited to do a presentation about her initiative. Holly said: “The event was really interesting and it was great to see so many people who were passionate about the same thing in one area. You could see how much what each individual was talking about meant to them. It brought together so many different parts of the community by both age and location and it even turned out that our stand was next to the stand of a gentleman who helped run the forest schools at my Primary School!”
Mike Sparrow, of Richmondshire Climate Action Group, concluded “It was wonderful to see members of the Eco Club in attendance at the Helping Richmondshire Heat, Eat and Meet event. The students manned a stand for the day and shared the broad scope of environmental activities they have developed.
“It is inspiring to see young people getting involved in the protection of biodiversity and reduction of carbon emissions and all the students displayed a keen knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject. Holly Brydon delivered an excellent presentation of the Big Garden Project at the college and impressed the audience with her commitment to making a positive difference to the quality of habitat provided within the school grounds.”
Well done to Cara and Haydn, in Year 8, Will, Guy, Liam and Harriet in Year 9, Cameron and Joseph, in Year 10 and Holly, in Year 13, for their excellent work.