Green Pioneers in Leamington lead the way

They are also creating a toolkit to teach younger pupils about sustainable living, after taking part in a Green Pioneers programme.

Twelve pupils from year nine classes at Campion School visited the head office as part of the Green Pioneers Scheme, a partnership between The Midcounties Co-operative and the Outward Bound Trust, where they were challenged to find new ways to help the environment.

The winning idea involved setting up a dedicated central recycling facility at Midcounties’ HQ to improve signage to encourage staff to recycle.

Green inspiration came after a challenging week at an Outward Bound centre in Aberdovey,where the students stayed in tents and a cabin with no running water or power, trekked through the Welsh countryside and learned tactics to live sustainably, and embrace co-operation and team working.

Campion school is now working with Co-op to develop a toolkit to teach their feeder primary schools, passing on knowledge they have gained about climate change and sustainability with these sessions being led by pupils who took part in the Green Pioneers programme, giving the primary school children first-hand insight into what they learned.

Mike Pickering, Sustainability Manager at The Midcounties Co-operative and Colleague Ambassador for Campion School’s Green Pioneers programme, said: “The enthusiasm shown by the children for the Green Pioneers programme has been brilliant, and we have thoroughly enjoyed teaching them about values that are at the heart of our Co-operative Society.

Robert Gardner, Outdoor Activities Co-ordinator at Campion School, said: “The pupils had a fantastic time on the Outward Bound trip and the experience of living with little to no resources has helped put into context how much we rely on having running water and power at our fingertips. The Green Pioneers programme has been extremely rewarding for both the students and staff involved, and has helped everyone think about sustainability.