Inspired Hucknall schoolchildren launch protest and petition to save rivers

Pupils and staff of the Flying High Academy in Hucknall town centre

The pupils behind the initiative are from Hucknall’s Flying High Academy and launched their campaign with placards – and a petition – in hand.

Year four teacher Debbie Newton said: “The driver for this is geography and part of that has been learning all about rivers, not only where the rivers are but the terminology used to describe them.

"As part of the learning, we have discovered facts like no rivers in England and Wales is considered to be clean.

Pupil Harry Pullen with his placard. Photo by Lou Brimble

“This has been taken to heart by our pupils and we decided that we would like to raise awareness of the issue with the people of Hucknall and see if we could gather support for a petition which we can pass to our local MP to seek change.”

Pupil Nancy Nwokoloh, eight, said: “We really hope people will help us. We are trying to stop sewage pollution because combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are putting too much sewage into our rivers.

"People are listening to us and lots of people have stopped and signed our petition. We can then go to our local MP and try to stop this.”

Pupil Amaya Kooner, nine, was taking signatures from members of the public.

Pupil Leo Lobban with his banner. Photo by Lou Brimble

“We have some leaflets to help people to learn about the effects of pollution and how river pollution is happening,” she said. “Some pollution is killing the fish and polluting our food as well as harming the animals who eat the fish from the rivers.

"No rivers either in England or Wales are in good health, and so I hope people will help us to stop dumping sewage into rivers.”

Ms Newton added: “We hope that the people we met become aware of the issue and play their role in trying to help too. As a school we visited Carsington Water and learned that people put all kinds of things into the toilet system that shouldn’t be flushed, and this can cause lots of problems.

“Our children are passionate about the environment and three of our pupils are COP26. The children created boards at home and have spoken to their families about the issues. We are so proud of the way they are trying to make a difference and protect the environment.”