STUDENTS at The Skipton Academy have set up an eco club to make environmental improvements in the school and its surroundings.

They are working hard to reduce the amount of litter and lack of recycling in school.

And, to help them on their way, they have received £1,000 from the Youth Environment Action Fund, part of the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust's Green Futures programme.

The funding will provide recycling bins in every classroom as well as many offices, corridors and even outside.

Recycling collections have been arranged for every two weeks, and bins have been rolled out across the school.

Eco club members will monitor how much of a difference it will make to the environment.

The school's eco club was set up in July last year after a trip to the Green Futures Eco Conference at Skipton Girls High School, and the first project was a litter pick in Aireville Park.

Corinth Blackwell, eco club member, said

they were shocked how much litter there was in the park, and had picked up eight bags of rubbish.

"We are aware of the problems with plastic pollution, and the harm it is doing to our world," she said.

"We wanted to do our bit, and encourage others to reduce their use of plastic, alongside recycling more in school. The pupils have been amazing and worked so hard to set this up in school, we are really starting to see a huge improvement in how well our waste is managed in school".

The club is now planning to provide water bottles to students to reduce the number of single use plastic bottles in and out of school.

Members are also looking to provide more water fountains in school, to save plastic and to encourage people to drink more water.

The Green Futures project works with young people aged 11 to 24 years old to inspire, support and empower them to create positive environmental change. It is part of Our Bright Future – a movement of 31 youth-led projects across the UK funded by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund, to inspire and develop the next generation of environmental leaders.