Tag: Roslin Primary School

Dobbies announces three tree-rific Edinburgh and the Lothians winners of Christmas campaign

Garden Centre is giving away free Christmas trees to nurseries and schools

Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre, is announcing three local schools who are set to receive a free real Christmas tree from its Edinburgh store as part of its Not Your Average Community campaign, in partnership with sustainable tree grower Needlefresh.

Dobbies’ Christmas campaign is all about supporting communities local to its Edinburgh store, spreading yuletide cheer to nurseries and schools in the run up to the festivities.

Schools and nurseries from across the UK were invited to nominate themselves to receive a real Christmas tree donation. Sixty nine percent of entries were from nurseries and 31% were schools.

Dobbies’ Edinburgh store will welcome Roslin Primary School, Canaan Lane Primary & Early Learning Childcare and King’s Park Primary School to come along to choose a Nordmann Fir tree, making sure children across Edinburgh and the Lothians can experience the magic of Christmas.

Dobbies’ CSR and Community Communications Executive, Chloë Bell, was delighted with the response to Dobbies’ Not Your Average Community campaign. She said: “We’re amazed by the number of entries and nominations for this year’s campaign and would like to thank everyone for spending the time to get involved.

“Christmas marks a magical moment in our childhoods, and we’re thrilled to be bringing some festive cheer to young members in our communities this year. Needlefresh has made this campaign possible with their generous support, and we’d like to extend our thanks to George and his team for all their hard work. A huge thank you to our Edinburgh store for all their help and hard work supporting their local communities.”

Needlefresh Managing Director, George Hood, added: “Our sustainable Nordmann Fir Christmas trees make a wonderful centrepiece to festive celebrations, and we’re excited to see how the kids bring this classic tree to life. It’s a pleasure to be supporting so many nurseries and schools across the country this year in partnership with Dobbies.”

All of Dobbies’ Christmas trees are sustainably grown in environmentally managed fields across Scotland where the growing team do everything from planting, pruning and harvesting by hand to reduce the impact on surrounding environment, wildlife and plants.

Marcus Eyles, Horticultural Director at Dobbies Garden Centres, recommends positioning your real Christmas trees in a cool, dry place inside away from any direct heat, use a water holding stand and check the water levels daily and top up as required to keep your tree looking fresh throughout the festive period.  

For more information about the winning nurseries and schools, visit Not your average community | Dobbies Garden Centres

Schoolchildren enter competition to inspire drivers to stop littering

School children in the South East of Scotland have unleashed their artistic side through a competition to inspire drivers to stop littering along the roadside.

BEAR Scotland, which manages the trunk roads in the South East on behalf of Transport Scotland, organised the ‘Trunk not Junk’ schools litter competition to coincide with this year’s ‘Keep Scotland Beautiful’ Spring Clean campaign. Over 650 primary schools were invited to submit a poster, slogan, song or rap encouraging people not to litter on Scotland’s trunk roads.

The road maintenance company revealed a surprise twist by announcing two winners of its competition, which aimed to get schoolchildren to think about the issues that litter can cause.

Indira Williams aged 11, a P6 pupil at Roslin Primary School, became one of the winners after impressing BEAR Scotland with her ‘What a sin, not to bin’ poster, which highlights the effect that littering can have on local wildlife and the environment.

Colin Burt, P6 teacher at Roslin Primary School, said: “We were delighted to be invited by our school Eco Committee to participate in the Trunk Not Junk schools litter competition.

“Our Roslin learners are passionate about environmental issues, so they were keen to be involved in raising awareness around this important subject.

“We are so proud of Indira’s winning entry and look forward to seeing it being used soon as part of the campaign.”

Primary 6 pupils at Colinton Primary School went further, writing and recording a rap titled ‘Litter is a no, no, no’ .

The rap includes lines such as ‘see it at the roadside that’s a no, no, no – stop throwing rubbish out of your window’, to make it clear that littering is socially unacceptable and to emphasise issues that can arise from dropping litter, including how long it can take to disintegrate.

The rap also gives helpful tips to keep the environment clean including using a reusable bag.

Rachel Billes, P6 teacher at Colinton Primary School, said: “We had so much fun participating in this project and the children really enjoyed unleashing their creativity to help raise awareness of this important issue.

“It’s essential that we teach children about looking after the environment from a young age so that they understand the impact they can make.”

In 2021, BEAR Scotland collected over 5,000 large black bags of litter and 2,200 large objects on the roadsides in the South-East which it is responsible for litter-picking on. If laid out in a line this would stretch to over 3.6km or over two miles of litter.

BEAR Scotland litter picks the motorways and dual carriageways on the SE trunk road network on a rotating basis weekly with hot spot areas treated twice monthly or as and when required. All other roads are the responsibility of the relevant local authority.

Iain Murray, Managing Director at BEAR Scotland, said: “Every entry that we received sparked joy in the team – we loved to see the children’s creativity as they helped us get this message across. It was so hard to choose just one winner!

“It’s of paramount importance that we teach children about the negative impact of dropping litter. They’re also powerful in encouraging others to dispose of rubbish properly.

“Dropping litter at the roadside is sadly still a huge issue up and down the country but we’re confident that the efforts of the school children at winning schools, Colinton and Roslin Primary Schools, will help to inspire drivers to take their rubbish home.” 

Both winning entries will appear on BEAR Scotland’s social media channels, and the winners will receive certificates as well as £75 worth of amazon vouchers for their classroom.