College News Working towards a greener College
Excellent work continues to be undertaken at the school by the student-led Green Group. Founded a couple of years ago, the Group has been focusing on reducing the school’s environmental impact, and has been working closely with Bursar Mark Milling and Estates Bursar Kim Fisher to provide practical solutions that can be implemented at the school. Last year’s success stories include the launch of a new recycling scheme, with waste bins distributed around various strategic points to increase the rates of recycling across the school.
This year the Group has been raising money in support of reforestry in various areas of the world. Back in December they arranged a fundraiser for the charity Just One Tree (www.justonetree.life), which included a ‘wear something eco-themed’ day and a bake sale. The pupils raised over £1,000 in support of this charity, which plants one tree for every pound raised, meaning they have funded the planting of over 1,000 trees. The input of the project is huge as the trees are planted in specific locations to gain a larger environmental impact, and also to further counter carbon emissions.
Lancing’s environmental output is hugely supported by the ongoing forestry and conservation plans, with the focus to continue the planting of saplings in different areas of the school’s 550 acres of land; over the past six years we have planted about 8,000. In addition, over 500 trees were recently planted as part of the elm tree project run in conjunction with the Butterfly Conservation charity. College pupils were heavily involved in this project, helping out with the planting alongside volunteers from all over Sussex. In addition to providing co-curricular opportunities our Farm Manager, Jon Hutcheon, continues to run the Farm Project, hosting visits from local primary and secondary schools. The Project is mainly centred around SEN schools who attend on a weekly rotation; this year so far we have hosted over 200 school visits. Jon also works closely with the National Farmers’ Union and has developed links with numerous wildlife charities and conservation groups, community focus projects aimed at food sustainability, climate emergency, and local councils such as Adur and Worthing.
Jon says: ‘We already run classes in the College grounds to teach our students about local wildlife and conservation. It is so important to teach the younger generation about the importance of wildlife and the pivotal role they will all play in protecting the environment.’ The Quad • Lent 2020
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