Chance for pupils to blossom!

4:42pm Saturday 10th May 2008

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NATIONAL Compost Awareness Week, May 4-10, is the perfect opportunity for smiling sunflowers Cameron and Chloe to help launch a new schools project from The Vale of Glamorgan Council - sunflower making on a grand and unusual scale!

Local schools, such as Oakfield Primary School in Barry where Cameron and Chloe are pupils, will be asked to join in with the artistic venture over the coming months.

The project aims to transform Art Central, the gallery at the Town Hall in Barry, into a Sunflower Valley during the summer holidays, with sunflowers made by local schools. from a load of rubbish.

The project is one in a series organised to link the council's waste awareness and arts development programmes.

Previous initiatives include the annual decoration of Penarth Pier at Christmas and, in a national award-winning initiative, a giant sweet inspired grotto at Dyffryn Gardens.

The projects are organised to encourage children and adults alike to be creative and to raise awareness of how everyday materials can be reused.

Sam Harrison, the Vale Council's waste awareness officer, said: "We'll be asking our local schools to reuse materials like paper and plastic to make giant sunflowers.

"It's a fun project to promote a serious message - we throw too much away.

"This is one of the more unusual ways we promote our What's in your bin?' campaign, aiming to get us all thinking about reducing, or as with this project, reusing and recycling."

Pupils will reinforce the project's green message by using the petals of the sunflowers to write their special promises of how they're going to reduce, reuse and recycle in their daily lives.

Tracey Harding, Vale Council arts development officer added: "We're delighted to be running another project that enables our local children to use their imagination and creative skills.

"Their unusual and eye catching creations will bring the outdoor environment indoors at Art Central this summer."