A Cornish organic clothes company has vowed to fund the next generation of 'eco warriors' as part of its ongoing charity work.

Frugi, which sells organic children's clothes worldwide but has its head office in Helston, has joined forces with Eco-Schools - a project designed to inspire schoolchildren to take steps to help the environment.

At the end an assessment is carried out and the school can gain international Eco-Schools Green Flag certification.

Frugi has agreed to fund the Eco-Schools assessment and flag fees - which normally cost £200 plus VAT - for up to 150 schools in the UK, from early years foundation and primary schools all the way through to secondary schools and further education colleges, making it the first company to sponsor schools for all age groups.

Hugh Adams, Frugi CEO, said: "Benefiting children, communities, and our environment, Eco-Schools share the same goals, ambitions, and ethos of Frugi.

"That’s why we are so proud and excited to be part of this collective global effort to support the education of children on sustainable and environmental issues and to help them to change our world for the better."

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To kick off the partnership, Frugi is sponsoring a 'Ten day challenge’ as part of the #EcoSchoolsAtHome campaign at that was launched during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Since Monday Frugi and Eco-Schools have been revealing a new challenge around one of the Eco-Schools topics: biodiversity, energy, global citizenship, healthy living, litter, marine, school grounds, transport, waste and water.

These can be found at eco-schools.org.uk and on the Frugi Organic Cotton Clothes Facebook page and website.

The challenges are being supported by a range of environmental influencers, including household names such as rowing champion Helen Glover, Robert Douglas from This Father Life, TV presenter Radzi Chinyanganya and young cycling guru Ruby Isaacs.

Frugi is also running various competitions for pupils to win organic t-shirt and sock bundles, water-bottles, backpacks and other ethically made goodies during the week.

It is all part of its Little Clothes BIG Change charity initiative, which each year sees Frugi donates one per cent of its turnover to charity. It has so far donated £720,000 over the past 16 years to help children and environmental non-profit organisations.

What is Eco-Schools?

Eco-Schools was introduced in 1994 in England as a response to the 1992 UN Rio Earth Summit.

It now runs across 67 countries with more than 1,000 English schools flying the internationally recognised Green Flag Award.

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It is operated globally by the Foundation for Environmental Education and is managed in England by the charity Keep Britain Tidy.

It is free to register on the Eco-Schools programme and by doing so schools gain access to free resources that help them meet the international seven step criteria.

A fee of £200 plus VAT is charged to cover the cost of an assessor visit once the programme has been completed and the Green Flag/certification schools received.

How does it work?

Spanning 67 countries worldwide, the Eco-School’s programme gives pupils the freedom to decide one of ten topics they want to work on.

Once they have chosen the topic they are free to decide what actions they want to take and how they are going to involve their school and community.

The whole process takes around one academic year until they become a proud Green Flag owner and fully established Eco-School.

The Eco-Schools programme consists of three elements: the Seven Step Framework, the Eco-Schools Topics and assessment for the international Green Flag award.

To be successful the programme requires support from school leaders and active involvement from staff, as well as a long-term commitment and the willingness to involve students in decision-making.

Find out more about the Eco-Schools programme and register for free on their website www.eco-schools.org.uk