Youngsters from Halton Lodge Primary School in Runcorn sampled the sunshine during a scheduled estate walkabout around the Grange Estate.

The event, which took place last week was part of a normal schedule of walkabouts held by Halton Housing Trust across Runcorn and Widnes. The children joined the walkabout as part of a wider approach to raising awareness of local housing issues and how to look after their local environment.
 
During the walkabout, the Year 3 pupils wore high-visibility jackets and used their analysis as part of a geography project they are working on in school.

As part of the walkabout the Trust encouraged the children to examine estate-based issues such as how the estate is managed, potential environmental issues - such as graffiti, litter and fly-tipping - and helping to spot and report repairs.

The schoolchildren were then encouraged to score the Grange Estate according to whether they thought the local environment was well managed. This information will help determine where the Trust should invest its future resources.

The walkabout also included the Trust staff, customers, police, board members, a representative from the senior management team and other stakeholders who all helped form a consensus for the scoring of the estate.

Following on from the walkabout the children are now working on a project linked to what they found. The Trust has also launched a competition to design a poster to promote future estate walkabouts across the Borough.

The winning entry will be printed and distributed at a variety of sites across Halton and the winner will receive a book token donated by the Trust.