Cathedral celebrates Wakefield district school children’s climate change relay

Around 30 youngsters who took part in the ambitious project to raise awareness of the their campaign for carbon neutral schools were invited to take part in the event.

In June, 50 schools took part in the ten-day relay.

They covered around 50 miles, walking from school to school handing over a wooden baton which was crafted for the occasion.

The event was organised by Wakefield Schools Climate Change Action Group.

Each school in the action group has climate leaders – teachers and pupils who meet to raise awareness of the climate emergency.

Pupils were invited to mark the achievement with a celebration at the cathedral, where the baton and a banner carried along the route will go on display.

They were joined by Jack Hemingway, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, and Roger Parkinson, from Woodland Trust.

Craig Thorpe, assistant headteacher at Moorthorpe Primary School, who helped organise the relay, said: “The event at Wakefield Cathedral was a fantastic way to celebrate the success of the walk and to formally handover the relay items to be put on display for the public to see over the summer.

“It was also a great opportunity to recognise and thank the children and staff for their hard work in organising the event this year which thousands of children across the district were able to connect with through the involvement of their schools.

“Hopefully schools in Wakefield will continue to work together to keep pushing on this important issue of climate change.

The group has created an online petition for more to be done about climate change.

The petition calls on the government to commit to all UK schools to become carbon neutral by 2030.

A paper version of the petition has been handed to Hemsworth MP Jon Trickett.

Mr Trickett has agreed to take the petition to the House of Commons in the autumn.