A school in Elmbridge has been crowned the winner of a waste reduction competition, which has seen them awarded nearly £1,000 to spend on a project that will benefit its local environment.

Grovelands Primary School in Walton-on-Thames was presented with a cheque at an assembly on Friday 15 July by Greenredeem and Elmbridge Borough Council. The winnings will be used to fund the development of an outdoor area at the school to help the children learn about the environment and sustainability.

The competition ran as part of the waste reduction incentive scheme, Rethink Waste, that is currently taking place in Elmbridge, which is being delivered by Greenredeem and is funded by the Surrey Environment Partnership and supported by Elmbridge Borough Council. The scheme is also currently running a second phase of the schools competition, with residents able to sign up and donate points and therefore funding to local schools.

Eleven schools signed up to take part in the competition, encouraging parents to sign up to the scheme. Once signed up, parents and families took part in waste reduction activities for which they earned points that they could donate to the school of their choice. Residents generously donated 199,535 points to Grovelands School, which converted to £846.88 of funding for their project.

Jill Chappells, class teacher and eco coordinator at Grovelands, said: “Many of our children do not have access to a garden of their own and we believe any funding to make this happen will certainly create much excitement, respect and a real passion for the outdoor environment. The children will have much fun working as a team and develop lots of responsibility by planting, growing and hopefully eating their own fruit and vegetables!”

Each school that took part received a share of £2,500 based on the number of points they received. Other projects at these schools that funding has contributed to include the development of a litter picking scheme, the building of a sensory garden and the introduction of compost and recycling bins.

The other schools that participated were Ashley Church of England Primary School, Cardinal Newman Catholic Primary School, Long Ditton Infant & Nursery School, Hurst Park Primary School, St Andrews C of E Primary School, Cranmere Primary School, Walton Oak Primary School, Cobham Free School, Claygate Primary School and Cobham Free School (Lower School Dept).

Following the first phase of the competition, a second phase is now underway with five schools in Elmbridge (Bell Farm Primary School, Cleves School, Esher Church School, St James C of E Primary School, St Matthews Infant School) taking part. Elmbridge residents have already been generously donating their points to help their local schools benefit from a share of the second round of funding. The winner of the second phase will be announced on 1 November 2022.

Councillor Tilling, Portfolio Holder for Environment at Elmbridge Borough Council, who together with Greenredeem presented the cheque to Grovelands School said:

“Residents in Elmbridge have worked hard to earn points by taking part in waste reduction activities. It is great to see residents making positive changes which will help to reduce waste in Elmbridge, while supporting local schools with eco projects. Well done to Grovelands Primary School and all the schools that have taken part and been successful at encouraging friends and neighbours to reduce waste and donate points.”

Rethink Waste is open to all Elmbridge residents and is free to join. To find out more, go to: Greenredeem.