Oakham in Bloom set schools challenge for BBC's Plant Britain campaign

Schoolchildren are being asked to channel their creative sides and help promote the global fight against climate change.

Pupils from all five town primary schools are being invited by Oakham in Bloom to design a slogan and/or poster to support the theme of climate change.

Pupils will be asked to complete the slogan ‘Trees are important because..’

The competition coincides with the launch of the Plant Britain campaign by BBC 1 TV show, Countryfile, with the winner doing their bit to offset carbon emissions by planting a tree.

“It will be a tree native to the UK and will bear bright red berries to attract wildlife,” said Oakham in Bloom vice-chairman and former tree warden Joyce Lucas.

“The UK is 12 or 13 per cent covered in trees. In France it is 28 per cent and Germany is 29 per cent whereas we are almost on a par with Iceland.”

In 2005, eight-year-old Niamh Topping won the previous competition after coming up with the slogan ‘Trees are important because trees please’.

Niamh was invited to plant a Bhutan Pine tree in Catmose Arboretum, which has grown to 20ft high in the last 15 years, and also won a £20 book token.

The closing date for this year’s competition is Friday, January 29, with the tree planting to follow in March.

* See page 11 for Joyce’s latest Rutland Times column.