SCHOOLchildren in Darlington could win their class a holiday by taking part in conservation and environmental projects.

The Barclaycard Living Land Awards, run in conjunction with the Young People's Trust for the Environment (YPTE), is a nationwide competition which aims to change the way youngsters see the world.

Darlington schoolchildren are being invited to undertake local projects with an environmental, wildlife, conservation or ecology theme, to raise awareness of the environment.

Winning entries will be announced at a special ceremony at Whipsnade Animal Park next March, where the overall greenest school will win a once-in-a-lifetime environmental trip for the class, to the value of £40,000.

The awards aim to teach youngsters about conservation, after research showed that in Darlington just three per cent of eight to 11-year-olds had heard of global warming and almost a third could not name an endangered species.

Peter Littlewood, director of YPTE, said: "There's an alarming amount of apathy and environmental ignorance in evidence among schoolchildren.

"Young people control the future of the earth's resources and we're giving Darlington kids the knowledge they need to make a difference. It promises to be interactive, informative and memorable."

Celebrity patron of YPTE, Rolf Harris, said: "It is great to see schemes like this set up, that encourage kids to take an active interest in the world around us.

"Pushing the environmental message continues to be an uphill struggle and initiatives like Barclaycard LivingLand promises to make a lasting difference by educating kids about the issues at stake."

The top winning class and its teachers will win an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the UK, with four other winning classes getting an all-expenses paid week in Dorset to take part in an Environmental Discovery Course.

For details of project suggestions and how to enter the awards scheme, there is a curriculum guide at www.yptenc.org.uk or contact YPTE on (01483) 539600.