OEC sponsors Picker Pals in Blackrock schools
Picker Pals encourages students to take meaningful actions to care for their local environment
OEC is proud to support the Picker Pals environmental education programme for students in Blackrock, Ireland, helping inspire the next generation to take positive action within their local communities.
Through this sponsorship, 30 students from Sacred Heart Catholic School will participate in the Picker Pals programme throughout the school year, completing an estimated 735 hours of environmental learning and community engagement activities.
Picker Pals is an award-winning initiative designed to teach children about environmental responsibility through fun, hands-on learning experiences. The programme encourages students to take simple but meaningful actions to care for their local environment, while also involving families and communities in the process.
The initiative started in the beginning of 2026, and the students and families have enthusiastically embraced the opportunity.
Students take the Picker Pals packs home in rotation, carrying out litter-picking activities with their families within their local communities. This unique aspect of the programme helps extend environmental learning beyond the classroom, encouraging children to become leaders for positive change at home and in their neighbourhoods.
For OEC, this sponsorship represents an investment in both education and community wellbeing. Supporting initiatives like Picker Pals aligns with OEC’s commitment to sustainability, social responsibility and creating a positive local impact.
By empowering children with practical environmental awareness from an early age, the programme helps build habits and attitudes that can benefit communities for years to come.
Picker Pals has already demonstrated significant impact across schools and communities, with millions of hours of environmental learning and hundreds of thousands of litter-picking adventures completed to date.
By bringing this programme into Blackrock, OEC is helping empower children to become environmental champions in their own communities — creating positive habits that can last a lifetime.
Together with Picker Pals, OEC looks forward to helping create cleaner communities, stronger local connections and a more sustainable future for the next generation.
Bringing Picker Pals to schools to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards
In Sacred Heart Catholic School, a simple weekly ritual is helping children discover that caring for the environment starts with small, shared actions.
“Small actions create lasting change”
In this Q&A, Emma Goldsmith, Picker Pals Champion, talks to us about OEC’s involvement with the programme and discusses its lasting impact on young people.
Building cleaner communities in Blackrock with Picker Pals
At a school in Blackrock, Ireland, a simple idea is creating powerful ripple effects throughout the community: children becoming environmental leaders.
