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Volvo Eco Challenge Club to receive visit form Chris Packham

TV presenter and wildlife expert Chris Packham is due to visit Exe Sailing Club on the 30th July, to see for himself the work that young sailors have done to make environmental improvements at their club. Young members from the club applied for a grant under the Volvo Eco Challenge and were successful in securing funds to help the club implement recycling and save energy.  Chris will be visiting on the day to see how they have got on.

The Volvo Eco Challenge was set up to provide grants of up to £1,000 to sailing clubs across the UK for young people aged between 10 -16 who undertake an environmental initiative at their club. The team of young sailors at the Devon based club, which has Volvo RYA Championship Club status, were originally awarded a cheque for £650 by local Volvo Dealer Kastner Exeter.

Chris was amongst the panel of expert judges for the Volvo Eco Challenge, alongside Sarah Black, Project Manager for The Green Blue. “It’s is wonderful to see children taking the lead in making environmental improvements at their clubs. We hope that the news will spread and that even more Volvo champion clubs will get involved in this year’s scheme” said Sarah.

All 120 young members of Exe Sailing Club aged 6-12 years have been helping implement the project. The plan submitted involved setting up collection bins to recycle glass, plastic and cans and to organise litter picking evenings to control the waste on the foreshore of Exe estuary, where the Club is situated. There were also plans to fit energy saving light bulbs and door fittings in the clubhouse.

During the day, Chris will spend time with the young sailors who initiated the project, looking at their clean up and recycling project and giving advice on what else they can do to help conservation on the site. He will also give a talk on general environmental issues in a bid to inspire young club members with ideas for developing future projects.

“The Volvo Eco Challenge has encouraged young members of Volvo RYA Champion Clubs to get actively involved in environmental projects and represents a great opportunity for integrating environmental concerns into wider aspects of our lives. This scheme gives people a chance toempower themselves to take the initiative whist 'at play' and as our successfulapplicants have amply demonstrated there are plenty of things to do.” Said Chris

The Volvo Eco challenge is open to all Volvo RYA Champion Clubs. Grants of up to £1000 are up for grabs. For more information about the challenge go to www.volvocars.co.uk/ecochallenge

Closing date for entries is 1 September 2009, so what are you waiting for?

Source:Into the Blue