STAFF and pupils at a busy Wrexham eco centre have been nominated for a Your Champions award by Peter Rey, of Hermitage Drive, for ‘the endless hard work they carry out in the community’.

The Millennium Eco Centre, based at Borras Quarry, outside Wrexham, was established in 1998 as an environmental education department for children with special needs from St Christopher’s School.

Since 2000 it has been open to the public and now receives more than 12,000 visitors a year.

Manager Jason Orme said: “I don’t know of any other school that runs its own environmental centre.

“We are currently restoring Borras Quarry into a country park. It’s a massive long-term commitment from the school and local community – it could take 30 years.

“We have had visitors, volunteers, students and social service clients take part in our quarry lifecycle programmes from all over North Wales and have even had visitors from Bulgaria, Denmark, Holland and as far away as South Africa.

“We carry out tree planting schemes, run workshops on recycling, monitor the amount of new wildlife species in the quarry and help individuals appreciate the environment as a source of inspiration.”