Talented pupils from local primary schools in Lancashire have paid a special visit to the Royal Preston Hospital after winning Lancashire Teaching Hospital’s sustainability art competition.
Pupils from Euxton CE, Penwortham, Lea Endowed, Sherwood and Kingsfold Primary schools came to the hospital to meet Chief Medical Officer, Gerry Skailes and receive a certificate and prize for their winning entries.
Local primary school pupils were invited to draw a poster telling the Trust what it can do to help save the planet and judges were really impressed by the fantastic standard of entries received.
Gerry Skailes, Chief Medical Officer, said: “Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter our competition. We had over 300 entries and our judges had a really difficult task choosing the winning entries because the standard was so high. There were so many great posters and ideas about how we can look after the environment. Congratulations and a big well done to all our winners!”
The winners included Alfie from Euxton CE Primary School, Austin and Aaliyah from Penwortham Primary, Isla, Grace, Rocco and Isla from Lea Endowed Primary, Gabriella from Sherwood Primary and Jess and Leon from Kingsfold Primary School, who all received a prize and certificate to say thank you for their fantastic posters.
As a large local employer and anchor institution, the Trust’s hospitals have a significant impact on the local environment during its day-to-day operations. As a result, the Trust has introduced a Green Plan to identify ways to reduce its environmental impact and meet the Greener NHS commitment of working towards net zero operations by 2040. The Green Plan looks at actions that the Trust will take to reduce its environmental impact and includes key areas including travel and transport, waste management, procurement and a reduction in carbon emissions.
Gary Doherty, Director of Strategy and Planning at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, explains why the Trust was keen to hear the views of local children: “We were keen to hear from local children about which environmental issues matter most to them and it was really encouraging to see the fantastic ideas that young people have about how we can reduce our impact on the environment. We had some great posters and it was very difficult to choose our winners.
“We loved so many of the entries, that we’ve actually decided to collate as many as possible together into a mural, which we’ll be displaying in our hospitals in Preston and Chorley in the near future, so watch this space!”
