Bev Cornish and Vicky Williamson and all the gardening team at Downton Primary School would like to thank everyone for the fantastic response to their request for pots and gardening equipment. They now have a huge number of pots in all shapes and sizes which are being put to good use growing a huge variety of seeds before their transfer to the vegetable beds in the grounds of the school. The donated greenhouse is now bursting at the seams with tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers and the used tyres kindly donated by Downton Tyre and Autocare now contain healthy potato and strawberry plants. Most importantly, all the children from Reception to Year 4 have had fun planting seeds and watching them grow.

DOWNTON PUPILS URGE SOUTH WILTSHIRE TO GO GREEN WITH YELLOW PAGES

Children from Downton Primary School are encouraging South Wiltshire residents to help local schools win cash prizes and raise money to plant native trees - simply by handing over their old Yellow Pages directories for recycling.

Pictured are Year 3 pupils from Downton Primary School: Theo, Georgia, Lydia, Mason, Freddie, Elizabeth; along with Kevin Humphreys (Salisbury District Council’s recycling officer), Kirk - the Yellow Woods Challenge mascot (Mr Ford, Class Teacher) and Mrs Evans (Head Teacher).

Downton Primary is taking part in the First time Yellow Woods Challenge for the first time. The challenge is a simple, educational and fun environmental campaign run by Yellow Pages, working with the Woodland Trust, Salisbury District Council and the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.

Between Monday 9th June and Tues 8th July, Downton Primary School will be collecting copies of old Yellow Pages directories, when residents receive the new Southampton directory. Please Help the school to win the local recycling competition! Schools that collect the highest number of old directories per pupil will be awarded a share of £700 cash prizes from Yellow Pages in the recycling competition.

For every pound Yellow Pages awards to schools for recycling old directories, they will give a matching pound to the Woodland Trust. The money will be used to support the charity’s ‘Tree for All’ campaign - the most ambitious children's tree-planting project ever launched in the UK, which aims to plant 12 million trees by 2009.

Janice Hix, corporate partnerships manager at the Woodland Trust, said: “What’s great about the Challenge is that children experience first-hand how they can help the environment. Getting kids excited about trees, together with the animals and creepy-crawlies that woodland supports, is so important if we are to ensure our green spaces are protected now so that everyone can enjoy them in the future.”

Free curriculum-linked resources, created especially for the Challenge, are given to every participating school. Kirk, the campaign mascot, features on all the activities and helps educate pupils about the importance of recycling, woodland conservation and caring for the environment.

Richard Duggleby, head of external relations at Yell, the publisher of Yellow Pages directories, said: “The Yellow Woods Challenge is a simple and fun way of engaging schoolchildren and local residents in a worthwhile environmental activity. At the end of the competition, the old Yellow Pages directories will be recycled into brand new packaging and insulation material.”

Kevin Humphreys, Salisbury District Council’s recycling officer, said: “Recycling not only saves valuable landfill space but also reduces the amount of energy needed to manufacture new products. By taking part in the Yellow Woods Challenge, these pupils are learning very important environmental issues at an early age – a great start for our next generation of recyclers!”

Since the Yellow Woods Challenge began in September 2002, participating schools across the UK have helped recycle 2 million old Yellow Pages directories and helped raise £300,000 for the Woodland Trust.

The Yellow Woods Challenge closes locally on July 8, 2008. For more information about the Challenge, visit www.yellow-woods.co.uk. For more information about the Woodland Trust and climate change, visit www.woodland-trust.org.uk.

Yellow Woods Challenge

The Yellow Woods Challenge is run by Yellow Pages, working with the Woodland Trust and more than local authorities across the UK. The Challenge aims to recycle old Yellow Pages directories and save landfill; educate children about the environment and support the Woodland Trust's ‘Tree For All’ tree planting campaign.

Schools recycling the most old Yellow Pages directories per pupil win cash prizes. Locally, £700 will be shared by winning schools. Nationally, a prize fund of £12,250 will reward recycling, community involvement, education in action and recycled artworks. For every pound Yellow Pages awards to schools in cash prizes, a matching pound is given to the Woodland Trust.

For further details, visit: www.yellow-woods.co.uk, email: yellow.woods@yellgroup.com or call 0118 950 6724.

Yellow Pages

The paper used for Yellow Pages directories in the UK contains 51% recycled fibre plus wood fibres from forestry waste, sourced from sustainably managed forests in Finland. The paper is white and printed with a yellow colour wash. Old Yellow Pages directories can be recycled into cardboard, animal bedding, egg boxes, packaging and insulation materials and newsprint.

Yellow Pages directories are published by Yell, a leading international directories business operating in classified advertising markets in the UK, US, Spain and Latin America. Yell’s brands in the UK include: Yellow Pages, Yell.com and Yellow Pages 118 24 7.

Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s understanding and enjoyment of woodland. Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free. Further news can be found at www.woodland-trust.org.uk/yell

The Woodland Trust's ‘Tree For All’ campaign grew from a simple vision – that
every child should have the chance to plant trees. The most ambitious children's
tree-planting project ever launched in the UK, it will help plant 12 million trees
giving one million children the chance to make a positive difference.
For further details, visit: www.treeforall.org.uk

Establishing new woodland has a role to play in carbon sequestration, however, the Trust recognises that trees can only sequester a small proportion of the total carbon emissions generated each year. The Trust takes a three-pronged approach to tackle climate change: public engagement in understanding and addressing climate change, mitigation of the forces driving climate change and adaptation to the effects of climate change. For further details, visit www.woodland-trust.org.uk/campaigns.

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