By Isle of Wight Observer
Priory School of Our Lady of Walsingham in East Cowes was named the winner of the The Salvation Army’s county-wide competition to encourage recycling in schools.
It is part of its ‘Recycle with Michael’ initiative to divert thousands of tonnes of textiles away from landfill.
A total of 1,605 pupils from seven schools on the Isle of Wight took part in the initiative, collectively donating a phenomenal 0.79 tonnes of unwanted clothes and shoes, close to the equivalent weight of two grand pianos. However, it was Priory School of Our Lady of Walsingham which won the county competition, with 0.15 tonnes being collected by its pupils, the largest donation of goods of all the schools that took part across the region.
The school received a very special visitor to present the trophy and certificate when the scheme’s very own mascot, Michael, turned up to meet with pupils and hand the award to Priory’s Principal, Mr Matyjaszek.
Kirk Bradley, Head of Corporate Partnerships at Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd, said: “We’re delighted to name the pupils from the Isle of Wight’s Priory School of Our Lady of Walsingham our ‘Recycle with Michael’ champions. We were overwhelmed by the school’s response to the campaign and the dedication of pupils and staff in promoting and acting on the recycling message. Our van was full to the brim on collection day thanks to all the donations.
“In fact, participation in the competition across the whole county has been amazing. We hope this is the start of a determined drive to give unwanted items a new lease of life – turning clothes, shoes and textiles into funds for local schools as well as for our charitable work.”
Recycle with Michael is a simple and effective way to deal with the UK’s fastest growing source of household waste, textiles, as all donations are either reused or recycled. For further information,visit https://recyclewithmichael.co.uk/.
Isle of Wight Observer