In honour of World Environment Day, Roma Finance, the lender less ordinary, has launched an environmental sustainability competition for UK schools, with three prizes of £500.

The lender is inviting schools across the country to create a sustainable and environmentally friendly house or community. There will be one prize of £500 awarded to each school age group: Infant School – 4-8 years, Junior School – 8-11 years and High School – 11-16 years.

The project can be drawn, made, built, computer generated –  it is up to the entrants. But each entry must include an explanation as to how it works and why it is environmentally friendly, whether on video, presentation or written.

Schools can submit their projects for judging here.

The closing date for entries is Friday 2 July 2021. All submissions will be judged by a panel of finance professionals and property developers, with the winners being announced on Wednesday 14 July.

Roma is a lender focused on bridging and development finance for UK properties and is seeing an increase in demand for sustainable housing. The construction industry has a part to play in the reduction of the world’s carbon footprint and increasing the energy efficiency of our homes is essential.

Charlotte Rutter, head of marketing at Roma, said: “Creating an environmentally sustainable world is critical and education of young people on this issue is essential -. Schools have really struggled to raise the funds they need since the start of the pandemic as they have not been able to run events and conduct other activities. This competition has been inspired by both of these factors and we are really excited to see what the schools come up with.”