Primary schools in Hucknall and across Nottinghamshire are being asked to take part in a new competition to support local wildlife by designing an animal house – with two fantastic prizes on offer to the winning entry.

'A Home for Wildlife' opens today (Thursday 3 March) and asks local pupils to design an animal home - such as a bird or bug house – for their primary school.

Entries to the competition, which is being run by the county council and Notts Outdoors, are limited to one per-school, and the design should be submitted on paper or as a photograph along with supporting information about the species of animal it would home.

The prize on offer to the school with the winning entry is either a day trip or two-night residential stay for a select number of pupils to one of Notts Outdoors' sites – transport will be courtesy of one of the county council's electric buses.

As an additional prize, the best design will be fully constructed by students at West Nottinghamshire College to take pride of place at the winning school.

Nottinghamshire County Council's Environment Ambassador, Councillor Mike Adams, said: "Understanding nature and supporting wildlife is vital, especially as we face the challenge of climate change, and I'm delighted that a Home for Wildlife is now open to entries from primary schools all over our county.

"The competition is a fantastic opportunity for primary school pupils across Nottinghamshire to use their incredible imaginations to think about where a wild animal, like a bird, could live.

"There are a couple of ways to submit a design to us – so I'd urge schools to get cracking now.

"I can't wait to get down to judging with my fellow councillors and a panel of the specialists to pick a winner. I'm sure there are going to be lots of excellent entries to select from.

"There are two fantastic prizes on offer to the winning design including getting the animal home physically built by a group of talented students from West Nottinghamshire College."

The closing date for the competition is Friday 25 March with judging to take place over the Easter Holiday period - the winning entry will be announced on Friday 22 April which is also World Earth Day.

As a way to engage primary school pupils to take part in a Home for Wildlife, the competition is being fronted by 'Bracken' – a hedgehog who is Notts Outdoors' new mascot.

'Bracken' was created by a pupil from Mansfield's Intake Farm Primary School in a previous design competition organised by the county council and Notts Outdoors.

Chairman of the county council's Children and Young People's Committee, Councillor Tracey Taylor, said: "We have over 300 primary schools in Nottinghamshire and I'm hoping as many schools as possible are going to get involved with a Home for Wildlife.

"Bracken is a fantastic character and I'm sure his support for the competition will enthuse our pupils even more about the chance to design an animal house.

"My message to headteachers and teachers is let's use this brilliant competition to help our children learn more about wildlife and nature."

For primary school staff, the county council's schools' portal has more information about how to enter a Home for Wildlife.