New award for inspiring young conservationists

A new competition has been launched to find the county's most inspiring young conservationists.
Monitoring and improving the health of Sussex pondsMonitoring and improving the health of Sussex ponds
Monitoring and improving the health of Sussex ponds

The Environmental Education Award is part of the CPRE Sussex Countryside Awards and is open to schools and colleges across Sussex.

It is designed to recognise innovative and imaginative environmental projects which inspire and educate young people.

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Kia Trainor, director of CPRE Sussex, is a mother of two young children. She hopes plenty of schools will enter to gain well-deserved recognition for initiatives which get young people interested in the natural environment.

Kia Trainor, director of CPRE Sussex, with her son OliverKia Trainor, director of CPRE Sussex, with her son Oliver
Kia Trainor, director of CPRE Sussex, with her son Oliver

“Children have a real affinity with the countryside but for many years there has been concern that they are ‘disconnecting’ from nature,” she said.

“We are really keen to get more children involved in CPRE and have been expanding our programme with that in mind. Sussex is such a beautiful county and we are hoping that this competition will encourage more schools to get young people out in the fresh air and engaged in preserving the world around them.”

CPRE Sussex has intentionally imposed few restrictions on the entry criteria to allow as much scope as possible for both existing and new projects across the county.

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“The winner could be a school initiative which has been running for the past six years, or it could be something which has only just got off the ground,” said Kia.

“Whatever it is we would like to hear about it. The only requirement is that it contributes to the protection, conservation or improvement of the environment.”

The awards have been running for some years but this is the first time a category specifically for children has been included.

There are four adult categories, The Rural Enterprise Award for businesses, The Sussex Landscapes Award for enhancing the landscape or biodiversity, The Making Places Good Design Award for sustainable construction projects, and the Peter Brandon Award for the most outstanding project shortlisted.

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The awards will be presented by Lord Egremont at Petworth House in October.

For more information or to enter, visit www.cpresussex.org.uk

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