Creative children help in the war against litter in Milton Keynes parks

Two primary school pupils are to help reduce the amount of litter in Milton Keynes parks and pen spaces.

Amy Fulton and Riona Hoi-Yan have been declared winners of a city-wide competition to design an anti-litter poster for display all over the borough.

The competition was organised by The Parks Trust and the Waste and Recycling Team at MK Council.

Amy, who is at St Mary Magdalene Catholic School in Greenleys, and Riona, a pupil at Portfields Primary School in Newport Pagnell, will both receive a free session with the Outdoor Learning Team at The Parks Trust to learn more about the natural world.

They have also been presented with some litter pickers to help them protect the environment.

Each year it costs The Parks Trust £350,000 -about 13% of their annual operational cost - to remove litter and service bins across their parkland.

Littering pollutes the local environment, harms wildlife and damages the planet.

It is hoped that the winning posters, which will be displayed on park and local council noticeboards, will now encourage people to not litter and to take their rubbish home if the bins are full.

Hundreds of entries from schools across Milton Keynes were received and eight were selected to go to the public

vote.

The finalists were from Emerson Valley School, Orchard Primary School, Portfields Primary School, Two Mile Ash School, Haversham Village School, Middleton Primary School, Barleyhurst Park Primary School and St Mary Magdalene Catholic Primary School.

Sarah Griffiths, who leads the Outdoor Learning Team at The Parks Trust said “Inspiring the younger generation to look after their environment is crucial to our future and the wildlife in Milton Keynes. We hope everyone will see these posters in the parks and in local parishes and it reminds them to take their litter home and recycle”.

The posters will go out to mark the start of Keep Britain Tidy’s national Spring Clean, #GBSpringClean, between March 25 and April 10.