Young girl's poster wages war on litter louts all over Milton Keynes

A 'from the mouths of babes' campaign by the Parks Trust and MK Council is the latest move in the battle to keep our green spaces free of litter.

After pleading with the public for the past year to stop dropping their rubbish in parks and beauty spots, the trust joined forces with the council's environment and waste team to recruit an army of schoolchildren to get the message across.

They asked primary school pupils across MK to design an anti litter poster to protect the environment. The results were amazing and posters from 10 finalists were picked to go to a public vote.

Today the winner has been announced as Annabelle Rhodes from Giles Brook Primary School in Tattenhoe. Her design will now be displayed on noticeboards across Milton Keynes to encourage people to take litter home when

bins are full.

Annabelle received her certificate and prizes from our new Mayor Councillor Mohammed Khan, who said “We are so lucky to have so much green space in Milton Keynes. It needs protecting and it is great to see so many children wanting to care for the environment.”

Sarah Spicer from the Waste and Recycling Team at MK Council said “The Council and The Parks Trust introduced this competition after an increase in littering last year, and we are really pleased that so many primary schools and children rose to the challenge to try to encourage people to stop littering and take litter home when

bins are full.”

Sarah Griffiths, who manages the Outdoor Learning Team at The Parks Trust, added “Sadly, every year animals in our parks die from being caught in litter and we are becoming increasingly aware of how plastic blown into our rivers is entering the sea and breaking down into microplastics. We are hoping this will be a reminder for

everyone to stop littering and to recycle when possible.”

As the winner of the competition, Annabelle’s class will now be taking part in a free session with The Parks Trust’s Outdoor Learning team in their local park and have received a box of litter pickers for the school to use.

The Parks Trust and The Council want to say congratulations to all those who took part and to thank them for helping to spread the message about litter. Over 1700 votes were cast and the top ten finalists were as follows:

• Mika J., Whitehouse Primary

• Yukthi P., Loughton Primary

• Daniel O., Brooksward School

• Ellen T. Whitehouse Primary School

• Jacob H., Glastonbury Thorn School

• Chelsy L., St Bernadette's Primary

• Aarushi O., Brooklands Farm Primary School (Countess Way)

• Penelope L., Shenley Brook End

• Daniel L., Broughton Manor Preparatory School

Both The Environment and Waste Team at the Council and The Parks Trust were impressed by the standard of the entries this year and are hoping to launch the project again in 2022 for more young local artists to take part.

Look out for Annabelle’s poster which will be on noticeboards to coincide with Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘Great British Spring Clean’.