As part of our Look After Where You Live campaign, children from local schools have been helping to encourage people to take pride in their communities and reduce litter. Through a poster competition, pupils were invited to share creative ideas about keeping neighbourhoods clean, welcoming and enjoyable for everyone.

The overall winning design came from Ella-Rose, a Year 4 pupil at Victoria Road Primary School and Nursery in Plymouth. Her superhero-inspired poster featured the message "Don't be a litter monster", impressing judges with its creativity and clear environmental message. Ella-Rose was delighted to win and see her design professionally framed.

Residents and members of our InFocus group were responsible for judging the competition. Louise Kelly and Colin Lincoln carefully reviewed every entry, selecting winners from each year group across the participating schools.

Winning pupils received a range of prizes, with primary school children awarded art sets packed with drawing materials, pens and paper, and Year 7 winners receiving vouchers.

Reflecting on the competition, Louise said she was pleased to see children engaging with issues that affect the places where they live, while Colin praised the effort and thought that had gone into the artwork, noting how many entries showed a strong understanding of the importance of caring for local communities.

The competition highlighted the important role young people can play in shaping cleaner, more welcoming neighbourhoods. To celebrate their efforts and share their messages more widely, several of the winning posters will now be displayed on noticeboards and signage throughout our communities.

You can view Ella-Rose's overall winning poster, along with the winning entries from each year group, here.