PUPILS of a Chester school have earned an award in their efforts to become more eco-friendly.

As temperatures set new records during the searing heatwave this week, it has been very appropriate that pupils of Huntington Community Primary School have been learning about about climate change, hosting their annual ‘Climate Neutral Now’ event.

It focuses on learning about climate change, in addition to activities teaching pupils how they can contribute to reducing their impact on the planet.

These activities include reducing the amount of paper used at school, recycling of materials and raising money to offset their yearly electricity consumption.

As well as achieving their bronze award from the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), the children were visited by John Egan, regional manager at HyNet, who came along to discuss the decarbonisation project and the impact of climate change in the North West and North Wales.

HyNet is an energy infrastructure project aiming to decarbonise the North West and North Wales through carbon capture and storage and the use of hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels. The HyNet project will create over 6,000 jobs in the region, preserve many skilled jobs and provide apprenticeships and other opportunities.

Huntington Community Primary School hold environmental education as a key element of learning, with the school having their own eco-council and Forest School area for pupils.

Duncan Rose, headteacher at Huntington Community Primary School, said: "Doing our bit to tackle the Climate Emergency we’re living in is vital both globally and locally, here in Huntington.

"Raising awareness amongst our pupils of the importance of taking care of the planet is a key message for 21st century education, so we were delighted to be joined by HyNet North West this year, to learn about how they will decarbonise our region."

John Egan, regional manager at HyNet, said: “It was fantastic to meet the pupils and explain what we are doing across the North West and North Wales. They are the generation who will be living with the impact of what we do to tackle climate change now and will be those who will lead, and grow, the HyNet project into the future.”