PUPILS at Okehampton Primary School brought their old sports kit to school last Wednesday to launch Devon County Council?s latest recycling initiative.
The ?Get Your Kit Off? challenge was launched at the school with unwanted sports clothes donated by pupils taken by Devon County Council?s executive member for the environment, Cllr David Morrish, to the Okehampton Recycling Centre on the Exeter Road Industrial Estate.
Okehampton youngsters brought a wide variety of kit, including sports shirts, trainers, football shorts and shinpads. Each of the items donated will be exchanged for vouchers.
Under an Environment Agency sponsored competition, the school in Devon which collects the most vouchers for the duration of the challenge, will receive £1,000 to spend on sports equipment.
The challenge is not just for the young, everyone in Devon is being asked to ?Get Their Kit Off? in support of the initiative which aims to find new homes for old sportswear rather than sending it to landfill.
As part of the ongoing ?Don?t let Devon go to Waste? campaign, young and old are being invited to empty their wardrobes of old sports kit and take it to one of the 19 recycling centres around the county, including Okehampton and Tavistock. Anyone can donate sportswear and give the voucher to a school of their choice.
All donated items will be sold through Oxfam shops with the money raised going towards projects helping education in developing countries. It costs just £8.99 to send a child to school for six months, so even small items can make a major difference to the educational opportunities of people in the developing world.
?We want everyone to dig out all their old sports shirts, sweatshirts, football shorts, trainers and tracksuits and take them to their nearest permanent recycling centre.
?All we ask is that the items can be worn when playing sport and that they are clean and fit for use,? said Cllr Morrish.
The challenge will run until February 28, next year. U18s visiting recycling centres must be accompanied by an adult.