Idling is fuelish” - School Poster Competition Winners

Published: 16 March 2022

“Idling is fuelish” - School Poster Competition Winners

Deal Town Council is pleased to announce the winners of the “No Idling” School Poster Design Competition

Four local schools took part in the “No Idling” poster competition to design eye-catching posters which encourage people to turn off their car engines while waiting, whether that is at the school gate, traffic lights, level crossing or supermarket car park. The Council aims to raise awareness of how making one small change will help to improve the air quality for everyone.

There are six winners from the four schools, they are:

Sandown School. Eloise Pugh 5U Imogen Walker 1A

Hornbeam School. Shannon Jackson Year 6

Kingsdown and Ringwould School. Inez Davies, Panda Year 2. Sydney Amber-Ellender, Narwhals Year 5

The Downs School. Maisie Reynolds Peake Class

The Mayor, Councillor Chris Turner, has visited all the schools to present the winners with their original designs specially framed. The winners’ designs have also been turned into large banners to be displayed outside their school.

All these winners were entered into a Deal wide competition judged by the Mayor, Chair of the Environment Committee and the Town Clerk. The winner was Eloise Pugh from Sandown School. Eloise’s design, which included the brilliant original phrase “Idling is fuelish”, will appear at air pollution hotspots around the town.

Engine idling is where drivers leave their engine running while their vehicle isn’t moving. Deal Town Council is targeting engine idling because short term regular exposure creates a considerable cumulative risk for regular route users such as children going to school. And it is not just children walking, scooting, or cycling. Children inside vehicles are equally at risk.

By not idling their engines drivers will help make the air healthier, save money and also help the environment.

Chair of the Environment Committee, Councillor Christine Oliver said, “air pollution is a hyper local issue. Reducing exhaust emissions from idling engines is important as the pollution does not disperse quickly. This directly causes respiratory, heart and cognitive problems and is especially dangerous to young children and babies.” She added, “we hope this competition is a great way to engage the wider community and raise awareness of the dangers of air pollution and the simple things we can do to improve our air quality.”