A class of school pupils that petitioned their local shops to ban all plastic bags has won a national competition, scooping and impressive £20,000 for their school to invest in eco projects. Hellesdon High School in Norwich beat hundreds of schools to win the npower Climate Cops Green SOS at a ceremony held at the Science Museum, London. The panel of judges, including award ceremony presenters Fearne Cotton, Piers Morgan and eco activist Eugenie Harvey were impressed by the way the intrepid youngsters lobbied local shopkeepers to ban bags, securing 23 out of 56 local stores to say no to plastic. Hellesdon was selected out of 10 shortlisted schools. Other top projects included runners up Penrice Community College, Cornwall, for their fight to make house numbers clearer to help the emergency services and reduce carbon emissions of delivery vans and Gateways School, Leeds, who worked with the Womenâ??s Institute and the worldâ??s fastest speed knitter to make recycled fashion items. Piers Morgan, head judge and champion of npowerâ??s Climate Cops campaign said â??Iâ??ve been impressed by the dedication to green issues demonstrated by each of the shortlisted schools. Their determination to mobilise their schoolmates, families and local communities is just the sort of green campaigning we need to make a difference to climate change.â?? Fearne Cotton, who met the children aged 11-13, added â??These projects are proof that if we all pull together we can make a difference to the environment around us. Itâ??s the little things that count and I urge us all to think green! Weâ??re hoping that Hellesdonâ??s success will inspire plenty more school years get involved with Green SOS 2009.â?? npowerâ??s Climate Cops programme is part of a five year initiative, Brighter Futures, designed to motivate eco-aware students to turn their passion for the environment into positive action. Students inspired by Hellesdonâ??s success can put themselves forward to take part in Green SOS 2009. Shortlisted schools will be given the training and skills needed to make their green mission fly, from selecting a cause, project management, team work and using the media. Interested schools should check out www.npower.com/GreenSOS

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