A BOLTON school has been awarded £15,000 to launch a green project, following a national competition.

Thomasson Memorial - a school for deaf children aged four to 16 - competed against more than 2,000 schools to take home the top prize of £15,000 in the teachers’ competition.

Ahead of the environmental conference COP26, the funding was awarded to winners of the bank’s MoneySense Climate Savers Top Trumps challenge.

Charlotte Siggers - the winning teacher at the school - has received widespread praise for her project.

The project will see the creation of an area within the school’s grounds where pupils will be given the opportunity to grow their own produce and be responsible for the upkeep of the land.

NatWest has awarded nearly £30,000 to schools from across the UK in a bid to encourage pupils and teachers to think about the role they can play in tackling climate change.

Katie Murray, the bank's group chief financial officer, and one of the competition’s judges, said: “This competition shows just how much young people want to get involved and make a difference – and what innovative ideas they have for doing that.

“We received an overwhelming number of entries and the quality of ideas and solutions impressed all the judges.

“It was hard to decide who should win.

“It was also brilliant to see the geographical diversity of the entries.”

The first round of the competition gave teachers the chance to win up to £15,000 to fund new green projects for their school, while school pupils were also tasked with designing an exclusive set of the iconic playing cards promoting sustainable behaviours.

The competition also asked primary school pupils to create their own versions of the cards that show the everyday actions young people can take such as switching to a reusable water bottle or cycling to school.

Winning pupils are being sent a goody bag containing prizes, including a pair of Adidas Parley trainers - made from recycled ocean plastics, a Top Trumps bundle, and 30 sets of the competition cards to share with their friends and family.