DOZENS of pupils have been helping to protect the environment by planting 70 new trees across their school grounds.

Year Seven pupils from Ulverston Victoria High School have been digging deep in a bid to combat climate change.

Various classes helped plant 70 new cherry blossom, silver birch, oak and maple trees on the school field.

The initiative, set up to celebrate National Tree Week, was headed by the school’s newly-launched Eco Committee.

Dan Low, 14, chairman of the committee, is helping implement greener choices across the school.

He said: “We’re working with the group Greener Ulverston to make UVHS as eco-friendly as we can.

“The three main aspects we’re looking at is planting trees, cutting down single-use plastics and recycling more.

“These are all little steps towards creating a more eco-friendly school.”

Dan said the main focus of the group is to engage young people in environmental matters.

“We want to help build awareness about the various ways we can help the environment,” he said.

Tiegan Sedgwick, 14, is also a member of the Eco Committee.

She joined the group to help learn more about the ways we can reduce our carbon footprint.

“The group is aimed at younger pupils interested in learning about ways we can protect the environment,” Tiegan said.

“We were donated 70 trees by the Woodland Trust to plant on our school grounds.

“We thought this would be a perfect way to get younger students involved in the environment.

“Hopefully we can do something like this next year and perhaps make it an annual event.”

The scheme has been overseen by History teacher, Becky Simpson.

She said: “We’ve definitely seen a shift in the past few years of more and more students engaged in environmental matters.

“The idea of planting the trees in Year Seven is so the pupils can watch them grow throughout their time at school - it’s extremely rewarding for them.

“Actually getting out and digging the soil themselves really engages the pupils in the subject matter and helps spark their interest in the environment.”