Hundreds of children across the North East and Yorkshire are taking the first steps to making their schools a greener, more sustainable place to learn and grow with our Green Check scheme.
The scheme is now in its second year and, to date, 56 schools have taken part in the programme and benefited from more than 10,000 hours of free or subsidised learning.
By pooling Groundwork’s community environmental knowledge with United Utilities’ credentials as an environmentally-aware local company, Green Check gives schools access to a comprehensive resource and support package as well as in-the-classroom expertise.
Groundwork experts support the school children to assess for themselves their school's sustainability performance and then devise an action plan to make improvements.
The idea is to help schools meet – and in some cases better - Government sustainability targets and the Every Child Matters agenda.
So far almost half the participating schools have achieved new or improved Eco-Schools status or the superior European environmental management standard EMAS.
The aim is to help schools develop an environmental management team to examine their energy use, water consumption and waste removal. By taking part, schools improve their environmental performance and give youngsters a much better understanding of the issues surrounding the environment.
Groundwork Leeds reported that “we consistently hear anecdotal reports of children from Green Check schools pestering parents to change their behaviours at home.”
As well as providing financial support, we also encourage our staff to visit the schools and take part in environmental projects with the students.
Recently, Green Check extended its reach into schools in new areas such as Kirklees, and is even showing signs of reaching outside the United Utilities footprint area.