CHILDREN are hoping for sunshine after helping their school become the first in Halton to have solar panels.

Pupils at Moorfield Primary School raised £15,000 after launching their project last September.

Children from the school's eco group spoke with such passion about their energy saving scheme, a chemical company awarded them £10,000.

Staff from BYK Additives said 11-year-olds Jake Edge, Molly Glover, Joe Turner and Eloise Birmingham had tremendous knowledge of renewable energy.

Various fundraising events and Halton Council’s area forum helped them to reach their target.

A celebration was held on Friday to thank everyone who has made the scheme possible.

The panels, installed by FeeditGreen, have already cut the school’s fuel bills.

School business manager Lynne Webb said: “We’ve had a monitor installed which shows up to the minute readings of the energy that the roof is generating and also how much CO2 we’ve avoided.”

Molly Glover, who was in the eco group, said: “Moorfield is leading the way in showing other schools how to achieve a brighter, cleaner, friendlier future.”

Head teacher Andy Williams said: “School is about educating children for life. This project has really captured their imagination.

“We managed to raise awareness across the whole of our community about the importance of using the world’s natural resources wisely.

“We would like to pay tribute to all those who made such a commitment in helping the children with their fundraising effort and without whose support we would not be generating electricity with solar panels.”

Moorfield is one of 65 schools across England and Wales taking part in a Solar Schools project run by climate change charity 10:10.