The organisers of a major local car rally have donated money to a local school for planting hundreds of trees to reduce their carbon footprint.
Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire Car Club and Trailhead Fine Foods, who sponsor the Get Jerky Rally North Wales, paid a visit to Llanfair Caereinion on Thursday (June 13) to present a cheque for £500 to Ysgol Uwchradd Caereinion High School.
The donation was to thank year 11 agricultural studies students for planting 300 conifer trees on the farm of rally supporter Cadvan Evans at Penyffordd, Llangadfan to offset carbon emissions associated with the rally. Planting the trees is the equivalent of offsetting 10 tons of carbon emissions.
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“Apart from helping the rally’s carbon footprint, it was fantastic to have the students on the farm for a few hours,” said Mr Evans.
“Having the rally based in Welshpool is important for the local economy because it generates a lot of money.”
Arwyn Watkins, OBE, executive chairman of Trailhead Fine Foods, said the relationship with local communities is crucial to the rally’s future.
“Bringing the rally’s headquarters to Welshpool makes a significant contribution to the region’s economy and we are keen to build on the good relationship that we have developed with the local communities,” said Mr Watkins.
“Besides offsetting carbon, planting the 300 trees educates students from Caereinion High School about the importance of the environment. It’s actually of mutual benefit, as we as adults learn as much as the children.”
Headteacher Huw Lloyd Jones said the school was happy to support the high calibre rally - “Having a sustainable environment is important to everybody in this day and age, and hopefully we can plant more trees again for the rally next year.”
The Get Jerky Rally North Wales generates around £250,000 for the local economy, with rally manager Eifion Jones reporting that all the hospitality beds within a 25-mile radius of Welshpool were sold out for this year’s event.
Guy Weaver, Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire Car Club chairman, announced that the 2024 Get Jerky Rally North Wales will be returning to Welshpool on March 16 to build on the success of this year’s event.
“It’s great to have this bond and partnership with a local school and to engage with the students,” he said. “We would love the students to be part of the rally in the future.
“It’s important to our club that the rally is sustainable and carbon neutral, and the only way we can do that is to look after the environment and engage with the local community.
"The rally has captured the imagination of Welshpool and surrounding communities.”
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