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School children to lead the UK switch off for WWF’s Earth Hour

A primary school in Pontypridd, Wales will be kicking off the UK celebration for WWF’s Earth Hour on 31st March at 8.30pm.

Ysgol Evan James school entered a competition organised by WWF-UK and Earth Hour 2012 official partner MORE TH>N, offering communities the chance to lead the UK switch off and win a £1,000 grant towards organising a special event on the night.


The winning school will be organising a candlelit walk through Pontypridd, inviting other schools and businesses to join in to celebrate WWF’s Earth Hour’s on 31st March. They are also championing other environmentally-friendly activities: from revamping the school yard using recycled materials such as wooden crates and tyres, to building a little greenhouse out of re-used plastic bottles and using food waste to make their own compost.

Moira Greany, Head Teacher at Ysgol Evan James said: “Winning WWF’s Earth Hour community competition is a fantastic result. We’re really proud of the work we do everyday to teach children the importance of taking care of our planet and hope that we’ll be able to inspire others in our local community and across the UK too. We’re all very excited about 31st March and looking forward to bringing the town together to celebrate with a candlelit walk.”

Colin Butfield, Head of Campaigns at WWF-UK, said: “It's great to see people getting involved in WWF’s Earth Hour with such enthusiasm and creativity. Earth Hour is about people coming together to celebrate our brilliant world, local communities and their passion for a brighter future is what brings the event to life and this is why Evan James primary school is the perfect community to lead the switch off.”

The runners-up in the competition will also receive a £300 grant each to make their event even more brilliant:

– England: the community of Benwick, Cambridgeshire will be celebrating with an evening of candlelit fun and games.

– Scotland: Edinburgh Napier University has won awards for the greenest university in Scotland. They are planning an event that will include a ‘picture hunt’ game and a funky fancy-dress party themed around the issues that affect the environment.

For further information, please contact:

Giulia Biasibetti |WWF Press Office |+44 (0)1483 412 490 |+44 (0)7557 633 775 | gbiasibetti@wwf.org.uk

Notes to editors

- WWF’s Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses joined in. Last year hundreds of millions of people and landmarks from Big Ben and Buckingham Palace in London to the India Gate in New Delhi, and even as far as The Sydney Opera House, took part.

- WWF is one of the world's largest independent conservation organisations, with more than five million supporters and a global network active in more than one hundred countries. We're working to create solutions to the most serious environmental issues facing our planet, so that people and nature can thrive. Through our engagement with the public, businesses and government, we focus on safeguarding the natural world, tacking climate change and changing the way we live. Find out more about our work, past and present at www.wwf.org.uk

- MORE TH>N is official partner of WWF’s Earth Hour. MORE TH>N is part of RSA with whom WWF has a global partnership to strengthen understanding of the links between insurance risk and environmental risk.

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