Goodie, goodie! David's eco-gifts idea wins a wind turbine for his school

Published on Friday 1 May 2009 20:28

A FOURTEEN year-old pupil at Webster's High in Angus won a wind turbine for his school after he came first in a competition to design an eco-goodie-bag to hand out to guests at last night's Capgeminini Black and White Ball in Glasgow.

David Elder's design impressed judge Carol Smillie, who picked his bag out ahead of the other finalist entries by Nathan Skene, 14, of Oldmachar Academy, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen and Kerry Channing, 14, of Hollybrook Secondary School in Glasgow.

David and the two runners-up were VIP guests at last night's carbon-neutral function, held in the Glasgow Hilton Hotel, which raised funds for the Prince's Trust Scotland.

Guests at the function each received a jute bag emblazoned with David's design, containing gifts that included shortbread, orange juice, organic seeds, wooden pens and recycling bags for mobile phones.

David is taking part in a programme at Webster's High, in Kirriemuir, devised by the trust to help encourage senior school children to make the most of their remaining time at school.

The "xlerate with xl" scheme works with youngsters aged 14 to 16 in S3 and S4 to help them develop skills that will be useful as they leave school and enter the world of work.

Geraldine Gammell, the director of the Prince's Trust Scotland, said: "This year's Capgemini Black and White Ball was a fantastic evening with a key environmental message at its heart.

"The standard of entries in the goodie-bag design competition was extremely high and I would like to congratulate David on creating a clever and eye-catching design."

Amy Sieweke, the chair of the Capgemini Prince's Trust Committee (Scotland) said: "Capgemini is delighted to be able to support The Prince's Trust.

"The Black and White Ball represents a unique opportunity for us to ensure young people are at the heart of the event – and creating a competition for pupils to design the eco-goodie-bag was just one way of doing that.

"The designs were all fantastic and I hope guests were equally impressed when they received their bags at the end of the night."

Smillie added: "It was a real privilege to judge this competition.

"Choosing the winner was very difficult because each of the finalists managed to capture the environmental message in a smart and eye-catching way.

"Everyone involved has been highly impressed by the quality and originality of the ideas and I'm sure the guests at the Capgemini Black and White Ball will be just as pleased with their eco-goodie-bags and thoroughly enjoy their evening."

For coming first in the competition, David won a wind turbine for his school, presented by renewable energy firm Windsave.