STOCKTON environmental campaigner David Saddington has reached the final of the prestigious WWF Earth Hour Heroes national competition.

David, of Norton, is one of 18 shortlisted entries for the event this evening, held in the shadow of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament - where category winners will each receive a £1,000 prize to reward their Earth Hour Hero initiatives.

The WWF competition, run in conjunction with People’s Postcode Lottery, invites people to nominate themselves, or others, if their actions are helping to save the planet.

There are three categories in the competition - Community Hero, Lifestyle Hero and Workplace Hero - and each is designed to highlight individuals who deserve recognition for going the extra mile to help the environment and inspire others.

David is one of six finalists in the Lifestyle Hero category, for his tireless work in the field of climate change. Since he was selected by DEFRA at the age of 13 to be the Climate Change Champion for the North-East Area David has inspired vast numbers of people to respect the planet.

As a teenager David met with the then PM Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street, and influenced government policies by suggesting the implementation of climate change on the national curriculum, which was taken up, before he became a World Global Leader run by a New York Foundation.

In the ten years since David became even more internationally focused, giving talks to tens of thousands of people across multiple continents, and leading fact-finding expeditions to Iceland, alongside many media commitments.

Still only 24, David is now a member of the United Nations Environmental Programme to help on climate change education, and his work has already made a lasting change to the planet.

Naomi Hicks of WWF-UK, said: “The Earth Hour Heroes competition is all about finding unsung heroes from across the UK who help protect our brilliant planet - and David certainly does just that.”

The winners at the event will receive their award from triple Olympic Gold Medalist, Andrew Triggs Hodge.

  • Durham residents inspired by David’s achievements can get involved in WWF’s Earth Hour - the world’s largest demonstration of support for action on climate change - at 8:30pm on Saturday March 25, simply by switching off their lights for one hour in a symbolic show of support.

Last year, millions around the world across 178 countries came together to show support for action to protect our amazing planet, with Durham landmarks including the Cathedral and Town Hall taking part in 2017.

To find out more, please visit: wwf.org uk/earthhourheroes