As a team, we are all aware of the environment around us and the dangers that it faces as a result of human actions. With an active interest in living our lives in a sustainable way, we wanted to raise money for a cause not only close to our hearts but also of great importance to a wider audience.

For these reasons, we hope to send the funds we raise from our participation in Polar Challenge 2011 to Global Action Plan.

Global Action Plan are a different kind of environmental organisation. They focus on people and how they can take practical action in their everyday lives for a better world.

We hope to raise in excess of £30,000 to fund the development and implementation of an online toolkit for Global Action Plan’s ‘Action at School’ environmental programme.

To date Global Action Plan has worked with over 300 schools across the UK and reached thousands of people. These schools have achieved:

• An average reduction of 40% in waste to landfill
• An 11% reduction in their use of gas and electricity
• Average annual CO2 savings of 22 tonnes per year
• Financial savings of £6,845 on average per school

 

‘Action at School’ is an environmental programme that helps schools to save money and resources. It is curriculum-linked for key stages three and four and is recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme. The programme helps schools to tackle waste, water, energy or transport over three terms. Because Action at School is a year-long programme of training and support it requires third party funding, which is usually met by local authorities or businesses.

The process involves the formation of an Action Team that includes students, teachers, school site managers, caretaking staff and governors. We train the Action Team and help them:

• Measure their school’s environmental impact
• Set improvement targets
• Communicate effectively
• Build partnerships with local community organisations

 

Students are encouraged to come up with imaginative solutions and lead the way in implementing them, gaining skills in decision-making and project management.  Not only do we hope to provide funding for the next step in developing the online aspect for this unique programme, but also we hope to play an active part in its delivery.

The scheme is already under development as you can see from a couple of developmental screenshots in the images section!

Please dig deep and donate what you can, its a great cause and really can make a difference.