Woodchurch and Warsaw connect for Clean Air Day
Students from a Wirral secondary school shared their experiences and observations about air pollution with young people from a school in Poland recently as part of activities around Clean Air Day.
Pupils from year 9 of Woodchurch High School took part in a series of interactive activities and workshops to try to understand the causes of air pollution in their area and explore potential solutions – and ultimately getting the opportunity to lobby local decision makers for change.
The young people are part of the school’s Green Flag-awarded Eco School programme and joined with counterparts from a high school in Warsaw to share their findings and compare the impact of factors such as road transport, driving to school and other pollutants in Woodchurch to the impact on life as a young person in Poland.
The activity was entitled ‘The School Run Scandal’ and was devised by the Global Action Plan, the worldwide environmental charity that co-ordinates Clean Air Day, which this year is recognised on Thursday 19th June 2025.
After the activities had finished, the group presented their research to Cllr Liz Grey and Cllr Max Booth, Chair and Vice-Chair of the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee for Wirral Council, plus the council’s lead officers for road safety and air quality. They put forward proposed actions for the council to consider locally to help reduce traffic around the school and increase active travel.
I never fail to be amazed and impressed by the commitment shown by our young people to improving the environment for the future, as well as their knowledge about what they need to do as individuals and what we need to as local decision-makers to bring about those improvements.
Following the event, the council - supported by Keep Britain Tidy resources - arranged a litter pick around the school and local community involving council officers, local elected members and residents. Collectively, they filled 40 large bags with rubbish and litter.
Moving forward, officers will support the school to produce a ‘Travel to School’ leaflet, providing information on how to travel to the school by public transport or Active Travel, and Year 9 students will also be challenged to design a banner to raise awareness of actions that can be taken to reduce air pollution.
