Pupils and staff at McClintock Children’s Centre in Seskinore, Co Tyrone are enjoying their new green accolade: Yellow Pages Recycling Champions for Northern Ireland 2009. They are also looking forward to spending their well-earned £1,000 prize money.

McClintock Children’s Centre  came top of the small schools category in the Northern Ireland finals of the Yellow Woods Challenge, the environmental campaign for schools run by Yellow Pages working in partnership with the Woodland Trust and local authorities.*

The pre-school’s 12 pupils recycled 320 old Yellow Pages directories when the new ones were delivered last year – equivalent to an inspiring 26.7 old directories per pupil.

Fourteen local authorities across Northern Ireland ran the Yellow Woods Challenge, involving a total of 240 schools and 41,467 pupils. The recycling scores from all the local heats were entered into the Northern Ireland finals where Fair Hill Primary School, Banbridge, triumphed in the medium schools category and Ballynahinch Primary School, Co Down, scooped the large schools prize.

For every pound awarded to schools in prize money, Yellow Pages has donated a matching pound to the Woodland Trust’s children’s tree planting campaign, ‘Tree For All’.

Belinda Moffitt Leader at the Centre said: “The pre-school children and parents along with siblings from the local primary school made a tremendous effort to collect the front covers this year.  We plan to spend the money on developing the children’s outdoor garden.”

Kimberley Watts-Fitzsimmons, corporate responsibility manager at Yell – the publisher of Yellow Pages directories, said: “It’s a great pleasure to reward the winning schools for their outstanding achievements. I’d also like to thank all the schools and councils in Northern Ireland who always take the competition to heart – together you’ve made a massive contribution towards the environment.”

The Yellow Woods Challenge is undergoing a major strategic review and will relaunch in summer 2010 – for more information, visit www.yellow-woods.co.uk.  For details of Yellow Pages recycling facilities, visit: www.yellgroup.com or call your local council.