Age 11-16 joint winners 2011

What was the project?

The School Council at Welling school were trying to find funding to pay for a student shelter. They then found out the high amount of money the school had to spend on vandalism and decided to take action by creating an Anti-vandalism campaign. They negotiated with the school's business manager that if vandalism was significantly reduced, the money saved would go towards a new shelter. As part of the campaign they delivered assemblies explaining how much money was wasted on vandalism and what students could do to prevent it happening. They also created a poster campaign and gave regular updates on vandalism statistics. The results were miraculous! Vandalism reduced by 80% and the new shelter has been planned.

What did the project change?

The school said the project created: "A better environment, more responsibility and a greater ownership of their surroundings. The new shelter is going to be fantastic, it was something the students wanted and have earned and this will give them a sense of ownership. Vandalism is now constantly 75-80% lower than it was before the campaign started."

What did the judges say?

This project was an ingenious campaign to both reduce vandalism and fundraise for a new shelter. The dramatic reduction in vandalism at the school was very impressive.