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AND THE WINNER IS…..: Special commendation - Ponthenri School, Llanelli

Wednesday 19 Jul 2006

AND THE WINNER IS…..

Region & Route:
| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders
| Wales & Western: Western
| Wales & Western
Children from Ponthenri School in Llanelli received a special commendation at Network Rail’s Environment Awards for cleaning up their local environment, having collected almost 80kgs of rubbish from a disused railway crossing. Head teacher Pat Rowlands was escorted to the awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum by pupils Kristian Saunders and Ben Millar.  Not only did they have the chance to discuss their project with Network Rail’s Chairman and Deputy Chief Executive, but they also had the opportunity to meet Philippa Forrester, presenter of TV’s Tomorrow’s World and Robot Wars. Andrew Wozencraft, Network Rail’s Infrastructure Maintenance Manager for Wales & Marches, said: “We were impressed by the calibre of entries to this year’s Environment Awards, but Ponthenri School went the extra mile to make a significant contribution to the environmental protection and welfare of their area. “It is great that these young people have respect and care for their local environment and have taken the initiative to clean up an area that was an eyesore for many.” Tackling anti-social behaviour, sprucing up stations and preserving the natural habitat for many species of flora and fauna were just some of the schemes recognised at the Network Rail Environment Awards on 12 July.  Pat Rowlands, Head Teacher at Ponthenri School, said: “Our pupils felt there was a need to improve the local area so compiled a questionnaire asking the local community where they felt there was a need to improve the local area – over 70% of respondents were of the opinion that the area by the disused railway crossing was a ‘sight for sore eyes’! “With help from ‘Pride in our Community’ and local councillors, we collected 77kgs of rubbish and we will continue to monitor the situation.  We intend to continue with our ‘clean up campaign’ as our future depends on a clean and safe environment.”

Notes to editors

Notes to Editors: The Network Rail Environment Awards took place on Wednesday 12 July and were won as follows: Biodiversity Protection Award Birse Rail took the award for Underbridge 39 at Sutton Park and the plan to preserve the habitat for flora and fauna Efficiency Award Trackwork Ltd won the award with its sustainable and environmentally friendly solution for the disposal of railway sleepers Community Partnership Award Won by The Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership, whose ongoing project helped improve the presentation at Chirk station, making it a suitable gateway for visitors. Their work included the installation of CCTV, with the whole community pitching in to the ongoing maintenance of the station Rail Crime Prevention Award Southern Railway took the award for its Crime and Disorder Reduction Task Force. The team provided a more visible presence on Southern trains and at certain stations. This proactive approach in tackling anti-social behaviour resulted in passengers feeling safer when using trains Innovation Award Won by Merseytravel for Liverpool South Parkway station, where £32m has been invested in building an environmentally friendly and sustainable station that will benefit the local and wider community long into the future Individual Contribution Award Awarded to Craig O’Brien of May Gurney, who consistently performs over and above the remit of his job, working with a wide variety of groups to achieve solutions that preserve and improve the environment Team Contribution Award The Neville Hill Depot team from Main Train impressed the judges with the way it embraced the implementation of an environmental management system. The team has developed its own processes to minimise the impact of noise and fumes on the local community as well as developing recycling facilities on site Special Award for Continuing Environmental Excellence The panel of judges created this award for FirstGroup as a way of recognising the company’s continued contribution and commitment to both environmental and corporate responsibility issues. FirstGroup has embedded strong environmental practices throughout its operations, which have shown significant dividends In addition, special commendations were made to the following: May Gurney for being short listed twice in the Biodiversity Protection category Ponthenri School in Llanelli where the children were all involved in a clean up campaign to improve their local environment

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