PUPILS turned rags into riches by handing in unwanted clothes, shoes and textiles to win £1,000 for their school.

Nearly five tonnes of recycling was donated by 10 schools in the Green Goals competition run by AFC Bournemouth.

Linwood School handed in the most items to scoop the prize money.

Rob Mitchell, AFC Bourne-mouth commercial director, said: “It is great to see so many schools taking part and it’s fantastic that once again so many unwanted items have been donated for such a worthy cause.

“I would like to thank all the schools that took part, and in particular I would like to congratulate Linwood School, who donated a huge amount of items and were victorious overall for the second year running.”

The items were collected by W&S Recycling and graded by quality and weight with 90 per cent being shipped to Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

The other 10 per cent were recycled in the UK for use as cleaning cloths.

Linwood collected 3.61kg per pupil, closely followed by Queens Park Infant Academy, whoich donated a heavier weight, but less per pupil.

St Mark’s CE Aided Primary School came third.

Pupils at Linwood, and the other winning schools, were presented with their awards by Cherries football legend Steve Fletcher and club mascot Cherry Bear.

Green Goals is run in partnership with Castlepoint, Bournemouth Borough Council, Eco Sustainable Solutions, New Earth Solutions, W&S Recycling, J&G Environmental, Green House Hotel and NGPS Ltd.

Georgina Lamb, recycling officer at Bournemouth Borough Council, said: “The Rags to Riches competition is a real opportunity for schools to do their bit for the environment whilst benefiting financially.”