Dragons’ Den goes green thanks to children from Pendle Education Trust’s five schools

Groups of children from Pendle Education Trust’s five schools pitched their sustainability ideas to a panel of judges at Turf Moor

The panel, made up of Pendle Education Trust’s chief executive Anita Ghidotti, Jacob Lane from Silentnight, Green Party Councillor Scott Cunliffe from Sustainable Clarets and Afrasaib Anwar, Leader of Burnley Council, heard from children from the Trust’s primary and secondary schools about how they believe they can make their schools greener.

Ideas included installing toilet bank packs at Colne Primet Academy to reduce water usage, producing a carbon sink at Castercliff Primary Academy by planting native plants outside each classroom, developing a fruit and vegetable garden at Casterton Primary Academy, planting a wild flower garden at West Craven High School and creating a new garden at Pendle Primary Academy to attract bugs and hedgehogs.

The panel of judges were so impressed with the ideas from all of the groups that they awarded each school with £100 to kickstart their plans. The money was donated by Barnoldswick bed manufacturers, Silentnight.

Anita Ghidotti said: “It was fantastic hearing so much passion from our children for these sustainability projects. We all know that we need to do more to be greener and the best people to champion this are our young people. We can’t wait to see their ideas come to life and our schools become greener.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to Jacob, Scott and Afrasaib for the time they spent with our children and for helping to put them in touch with lots of local companies who will be able to support their ideas further.”