Boscombe school children have been busy creating colourful poster designs in a bid to tackle dog fouling in their local area.
As part of the Boscombe Regeneration Partnership’s Backing Boscombe campaign, school children from Corpus Christi, Pokesdown and King’s Park Primary Schools were invited to take part in a competition to create a winning poster design to help encourage residents to pick up after their dog.
Two lucky winners have been selected, Cassie, age 6 from King’s Park Primary School and Molly, age 10 from Pokesdown Primary School, who will be presented with prizes and will see their design enlarged on a Bournemouth Council refuse truck. The two designs will also be made into street signage and installed, in the New Year, in public areas including parks throughout Boscombe.
Councillor Jane Kelly, Cabinet Member for Partnerships and Regeneration, said: “Dog fouling continues to be a problem, particularly in Boscombe, and is not only anti-social when owners do not pick up after their dog but it’s also a health hazard. I was really impressed with the number of fantastic designs that we had from the local school children and their obvious enthusiasm for looking after their environment. I hope that the winning designs will have the desired impact on local residents and encourage them to pick up after their dog.”
Agnes Stevens, Art Leader, Pokesdown Community Primary School, said: “I was absolutely thrilled to hear that Molly, from our Art Club, had been successful in winning the Key Stage 2 category of the competition. Our pupils feel very strongly about the dog fouling issue and welcomed the opportunity to highlight this on-going problem through their visual art work. I am so proud of all of them for their enthusiastic and creative efforts!”
Cathy Lewis, Eco Warrior Lead Teacher, Kings Park Primary School, said: “Well done Cassie! All the pupils and staff at Kings Park are very proud that Cassie has contributed to our community being a cleaner and safer place for all. We know her creative work will persuade dog owners to take more responsibility for the environment.”
A selection of the posters submitted by the schools are now on display in the window of an empty shop in Boscombe Precinct next to the 02 Academy and will be on display untilJanuary 2014.
Local residentscan report an instance of animal fouling by telephoning Bournemouth Borough Council Customer Services on 01202 451199 or by downloading the free My Bournemouth app.
Local residents can purchase 100 dog poo bags for £1 available from the Boscombe Regeneration Partnership Office in Roumelia Lane, Boscombe or Boscombe or Springbourne Libraries.
