Winners of Provost School Footprint Challenge Announced

This is an archived article from 22 June 2023. 

The winners of the 2023 Provost School Footprint Challenge have been announced following almost a year of tough competition between local schools.

Carrick Academy were crowned the winners in a ceremony at County Buildings in Ayr on Monday 19 June.

They scooped the top prize for their power-saving initiative, which saw them have their lessons without boards and laptops during Earth Hour. They started a charity shop within the school which sells clothes, toys and small electronics, and they worked with the Maybole regeneration group to create new seating from some unused pieces of scaffolding. They also encouraged people to shop locally to lower their carbon footprint and support the community.

The Provost's School Footprint Challenge is an annual event that encourages secondary school pupils in South Ayrshire to develop and present local solutions for reducing their own schools' carbon footprint.

Each school undertakes their own projects to tackle climate change; ranging from reducing energy use, increasing recycling and litter picking, and improving biodiversity; whilst raising awareness about these important issues.

For the first time since 2019, the event was held in person, and each school had the chance to show a panel of judges the great work they'd been carrying out over the course of the school term. The judging panel included Provost Iain Campbell; George Tarvit, Director of Sustainable Scotland Network; Liz Marquis, Director of the Energy Agency; representatives from the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, and Lyndsay McRoberts, Director of Education for South Ayrshire Council.

Queen Margaret Academy secured second place, while Prestwick and Kyle Academies jointly won third place.

Provost Iain Campbell said: "The Provost School Footprint Challenge is a brilliant opportunity for secondary schools in South Ayrshire to develop their own take on climate action. The standard of work this year has been exceptional, our young people are really leading the way by developing local solutions for their own school communities.

"I'd like to congratulate our winners, Carrick Academy, and all the schools that participated. You should all be very proud of what you've achieved this year, and keep up the fantastic work."