Kids soak it up to stop floods

Ninelands Primary pupils took part in Yorkshire Water and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Soak it Up project by planting trees, constructing a rain garden planter and a water butt planter to help reduce the impact of surface water.

The scheme sees the two organisations go into schools and community centres to raise awareness of sustainable drainage and how it can help prevent flooding as well as help the environment.

Yorkshire Water Campaign Project Co-ordinator, Nicole Jones, said: “With more hard surfaces around, less rainwater is being absorbed into the ground which can cause flooding while additional litter and pollutants can get into the system and cause blockages.

“Soak it Up lets pupils know what they can do in school and at home to help and with those installations they get to see every day the benefits they bring.”

The water butt planter will take water from the guttering, water the plants on top of the butt and provide water for other plants in the garden, while the rain garden planter will use water from guttering for plants.

Deputy Headteacher at Ninelands Primary School, Helen Thomson, said: “Flooding is a real issue for our community so the children were eager to learn about the part they could play in slowing the flow of water into the existing drainage system.”

MP for Elmet and Rothwell, Alec Shelbrooke, who visited the school to see the work, said: “Soak it Up is an excellent idea and I hope the children shared what they learnt and build some at home too!”