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Queen Mary students competing for a dream trip to Antarctica

Four students from Queen Mary, University of London’s Department of Geography have made it into the final of the npower Future Leaders Challenge.

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Students (L-R): Ginny Bernadout, Amy Ennis, Tom Langley, Sophie Webb
Students (L-R): Ginny Bernadout, Amy Ennis, Tom Langley, Sophie Webb

Teams from universities across the UK entered the competition by sending in a short film describing their plans for a local green project around their university and wider community. The project from Queen Mary, University of London will involve running a recycling competition for local primary schools, educating children about recycling, creating collection points and measuring the waste.  

The winning team - whose project is judged to have the most impact  - will win a trip of a lifetime to Antarctica where they will get to experience effects of global warning first hand.

The four finalist students from Queen Mary, University of London joined the other nine teams this weekend at an outdoors activity weekend in the Lake District. The course was specially designed to help develop team building skills, environmental knowledge and other key skills that will enable them to deliver their project.

The weekend was attended by Antarctic adventurer Robert Swan, whose company, 2041, will be taking the winning team to Antarctica. Robert talked to the university students about the affect climate change is having on the South Pole and how a series of small actions and projects - like the one being undertaken by Queen Mary, University of London team - can make a real impact on the environment.                                                                 

“We are delighted to have made it into the final of the npower Future Leaders Challenge and the weekend at Derwent Water has really inspired us,” said Amy Ennissaid, Challenge finalist and Queen Mary student.

“We’re planning to run a recycling competition for local primary schools, educating the kids about recycling, creating collection points and measuring waste-to raise awareness of renewable energy in a cool and fun way.”

Clare McDougall, npower’s head of education programmes said,” The npower Future Leaders Challenge has been developed to find the next generation of Robert Swans: young people with drive and passion, committed to learning about climate change and discovering new solutions to tackle its harmful effects. A team of Future Leaders will take part in an Antarctic expedition in March 2010, lead by polar explorer Robert Swan OBE.”

The university teams will be working on their projects for the next two months, before the winning team is announced on 18 December.

npower has harnessed graduate talent for many years - understanding that graduates are a vital part of a successful business, especially in challenging times. npower has been chosen as a Times Top 100 Graduate Employer for the third year running as well as appearing in The Times Top 50 'Places Where Women Want to Work'.

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