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The IFtL Youth Parliament (YP) members based across 3 schools in Corby, together with their school communities, recently launched an initiative to reduce plastic waste. The project saw children come together to collect crisp packets and plastic bottle lids for recycling into useful items like survival blankets for homeless people.

Inspiring Futures through Learning (IFtL), a Multi-Academy Trust comprising sixteen schools across Milton Keynes and Corby, appoints two representatives each academic year from all IFtL schools to represent them. The goal is to give young people a voice in their local communities and enable them to make a positive change.  The IFtL Youth Parliament Corby is made up of pupils from Exeter A Learning Community (ALC), Priors Hall A Learning Community (ALC) and Woodnewton A Learning Community (ALC).

As part of their sustainability initiative, the Youth Parliament members resolved to focus their efforts on recycling. With a passion to lessen Corby’s impact on the surrounding environment and support the town’s transition to a low-carbon, circular economy, the children-led recycling drive served to engage residents of all ages in contributing towards a more sustainable future.

Some pupils said: “We were shocked to learn how many crisp packets and bottle lids end up in landfill or polluting the environment every day, but this project shows that by working together, we can make a real difference. We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported this so far. You are helping us build a sustainable future for our local area and everyone in it.”

Collection points were established at each school and were works of animal sculpture created by the British Iron Works Centre, well known for its Knife Angel initiative and leading their Environmental Project. This project, designed specifically for primary schools, community groups, clubs and associations across the UK, has the dual objective of educating children and communities on the importance of environmental protection whilst also inspiring innovative and creative thinking to enable impactful environmental changes.

The children at Priors Hall ALC collected bottle tops in a giant metal giraffe sculpture that the children named Geoffrey.  Donna the Dolphin was stationed at the Woodnewton ALC, and Coral the Fish, was at Exeter ALC – Donna and Coral were for collecting with collecting crisp packets.

Joanne James, Deputy Head, noted that a local transport company Stephen Sanderson Transport volunteered their services free of charge to transport the sculptures from Oswestry to Corby. “Their help was invaluable, as it would not have been possible to complete this task without their support, so we thank them enormously.  All children in schools were so positively engaged and in turn, encouraged their families with supporting this project and making a real difference to where our rubbish goes.  Within our schools, and IFtL, environmental sustainability is a top priority that we take very seriously. We are committed to educating both our pupils and the wider local communities about the importance of sustainability and being responsible citizens even beyond the classrooms.  The Youth Parliament members involved in leading this project role modelled this throughout – congratulations to them all.”

Ed Sanderson, Commercial Director for Stephen Sanderson Transport said “We thoroughly enjoyed being part of this sustainability initiative that was managed by Joanne and her team at the three schools in Corby. It’s not every day you get asked to collect two fish and a giraffe from the British Iron Works Centre in Wales! So, when we did, we jumped at the chance of getting involved. As a local employer, we enjoy supporting the communities we are part of, especially when they benefit great causes”

Through determined and conscientious efforts, at IFtL we seek to fully embody our values. We take our role in safeguarding the environment for years to come very seriously. It is only by educating today’s society that real positive change can be affected.

About Inspiring Futures through Learning:

Inspiring Futures through Learning is a multi-academy trust of 15 primary and 1 all through across Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire. IFtL aims to achieve the best possible outcomes for children through school-to-school support, shared expertise and collaborative working. Each school within the trust has its own unique character but shares the vision of inspiring the futures of us all through learning together and preparing children for their futures.

Watch the project video here https://youtu.be/WQ1TK2dz-Xo?feature=shared