South Lanarkshire School Makes a Wave in Scottish Water Challenge

“The Eco Committee were thrilled to win the challenge and have face to face time with Duncan. They are passionate about protecting the environment and the Making Waves Challenge was a great way to put their passion into action – even better that we won.”

Luke McGowan
Trinity High School Teacher

A secondary school in South Lanarkshire has won Scottish Water’s 2025 Making Waves Challenge as part of an education programme to encourage young people to protect the future of Scotland’s water.

The Eco Club at Trinity High School in Rutherglen was named as the winner of the challenge  - which is part of the utility’s Generation H₂O programme - after demonstrating strong engagement and creating a campaign about protecting Scotland’s water environment.

The school beat off competition from a total of 34 entries from seven schools across the Central Belt and was rewarded with an inspiring visit from swimmer Duncan Scott, Scotland’s most decorated Olympic athlete, and a water safety lesson from Scottish Swimming.

The Trinity High School team demonstrated a well-rounded campaign about the impacts of artificial grass which can lead to surface water flooding as well as microplastics in Scotland’s water environment. 

The school’s Eco Club promoted their campaign internally and externally, engaging with Rutherglen Amateur Swimming Club and a local Scouts Group.

A panel of judges representing Scottish Water and Scottish Swimming were impressed by the calibre of all entries. 

Scottish Water Generation H₂O programme, which the Making Waves Challenge is part of, inspires young people across Scotland to become part of a movement to celebrate and protect Scotland’s water, creating responsible water citizens. 

By working with Scottish Swimming, the programme also demonstrates the importance for everyone to be responsible in and around water. 

On winning the competition, Trinity High School teacher Luke McGowan, said: “The Eco Committee were thrilled to win the challenge and have face to face time with Duncan. They are passionate about protecting the environment and the Making Waves Challenge was a great way to put their passion into action – even better that we won.”

After the visit, Duncan Scott, said: “It’s great to see the enthusiasm and dedication of the young people to protect the water environment and playing their part in being a responsible water citizen.”

Lorna Neilson, Generation H2O Programme Manager, said: “We’d like to thank all the schools that participated in the Making Waves Challenge. We were very impressed by the quality of all the entries and in particular the entry from Trinity High School and we were thrilled to have Duncan Scott on board to help celebrate the school’s success.

“Scottish Water is Scottish Swimming’s Learn to Swim partner, and Duncan is our Learn to Swim Ambassador, working together really is a great way to reward young people for their efforts in becoming responsible water citizens – in and around water.” 

Generation  H₂O is designed to inspire young people to become part of a movement to celebrate and protect the nation’s water, one of the most valuable and precious resources, creating responsible ‘water citizens’ for a flourishing Scotland and connecting them to Scottish Water by raising awareness of the company and its crucial role across Scotland.

It gives learners across Scotland the tools to protect Scotland’s precious water. Designed for Scottish classrooms, the programme teaches students about water conservation in a way that connects to their local environment.

All resources and available to download here https://nationalschoolspartnership.com/initiatives/generation-h2o-secondary/

Generation H₂O was launched by Scottish Water in September 2023 and, so far, 920 number of teachers have registered across Scotland reaching 54,127 young people.