Students go green to become London winners of the first Planet Earth Games

Eco-friendly students at Westminster Kingsway College have been named the London regional winners of the first ever Planet Earth Games for colleges.

Planet Earth Games – Colleges, run in partnership with Association of Colleges (AoC) Sport, aims to promote sustainability and educate students on how their actions affect the environment.

Students from colleges across the UK were asked to complete five virtual sustainability challenges around veganism, litter picking, carbon reduction, slow fashion and hugging a tree.

They were asked to submit evidence of themselves undertaking the challenges on allocated days in January, with the most engaged college being awarded a trophy.

Engineering student Sinem Bozkurt, 17, said: “I’m really proud that we were regional winners for London. The students put in so much effort to complete every challenge and I think we deserved it.

“The challenges were really fun and enjoyable and had a good impact on us. It was nice seeing other students at college taking part because it showed they care about the environment.

“I’m very interested in environmental engineering because climate change is a worry and I really want to make a difference and make sure we prevent worse things from happening.

“The environment is something that everyone should be concerned with right now, it’s not really an option.”

WestKing has recently set up a Sustainability Council run by students and supported by their peers and staff with the aim of making the college the greenest in London.

Planet Earth Games was formed in 2019 and runs various challenges throughout the year to inspire and encourage people towards active and sustainable lifestyles.

The charity has been backed by former GB rower Melissa Wilson, international runner Gemma Kersey, Paralympian Alexandra Rickham, professional cricketer Joe Cooke and the environmental group Kids Against Plastic.

Since it began, 84 per cent of participants have learnt something new about sustainability and nearly two thirds have become more active.

Laura Elliott, Director of Learner Services at WestKing, said: “As a college we take pride in not only educating our students in the classroom, but also on topics that matter to them and affect their everyday lives, including the environment.

“We were delighted to be named the London winner in the first Planet Earth Games. My congratulations go out to all the students who took part and showed how passionately they care about the world around them.”

Chris Broadbent, Founder of Planet Earth Games, said: “We were thrilled with the success of the first ever Planet Earth Games – Colleges event, in particular, the gusto and creativity in which students tackled each challenge. Each and every submission was superb.

“Working with our partners at the AoC, we now have a real foundation from which to build. We are particularly excited at the prospect of working with students to develop this concept to best deliver for young people.”

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