New South West Water educational resources help bring G7 alive for schoolchildren

28th May 2021

Schoolchildren across Cornwall, the UK and the world are being taught the importance of the G7 Summit and its impact on their future thanks to a volunteer-led international programme supported by South West Water.

South West Water has teamed up with Sing2G7 to provide G7-themed water-based teaching resources to bring the Summit alive and invite children to have their say. With ‘Tackling Climate Change’ being one of G72021’s four policy priorities, the Water Conservation module was specifically requested by the Sing2G7 team to complete the Environment sections of the project’s comprehensive G7 education pack.

The South West Water resources, which focus on the water cycle and water conservation, are being delivered alongside a song, ‘Gee Seven’, written specially for the project by lyricist Sir Tim Rice with composer Peter Hobbs, and performed by the wonderful Truro Cathedral Choristers.

Through the toe-tapping song, the 35 choristers aged 8-18 are inspiring children around the world to unite and ‘sing to G7’ with a strong message, urging them to take full responsibility for the rest of the world.

So far 20,000 young voices worldwide, including pupils in over 150 UK schools, have signed up to sing ‘Gee Seven’.

Susan Davy, Chief Executive Officer of South West Water’s parent company Pennon Group, said: “We are thrilled to be supporting Sing2G7 and the fantastic work they are doing to put children's voices at the heart of this year’s G7 summit.

“We are proud to be providing the project with climate-themed educational resources which are designed to help make the summit relevant to young lives.

“As one of the largest companies in the South West it’s our responsibility to promote and contribute to the regional economy, and the focus of this year’s G7 Summit to Build Back Better by leading the global recovery from coronavirus is very closely aligned to our vision.

“This is reflected in the recent key draft decision of our Green Recovery Initiative by the regulator Ofwat, which will see carefully planned investment across the whole of the South West, creating up to 500 new jobs, support the wider supply chain and help the region’s economy recover and protect the environment.”

Christopher Gray, Director of Music at Truro Cathedral, said: “It means a lot to us that South West Water sees the value of Sing2G7 and its aims to unite children in song across international borders, engaging them with the G7 and important issues for their futures. We appreciate their support greatly.

“It has been a profoundly nourishing and enjoyable project for our boy and girl choristers, as they emerge from the past year of lockdowns and restrictions. They have taken pride in sharing their music and their message from Cornwall with the world. Thank you South West Water.”

Esme Page, co-founder of Sing2G7, said: ”Sing2G7 is all about giving children a voice on global issues and empowering them to make a difference and lead with what they say and do in the world. Our Edu-Pack covers all the G7 agenda areas but Climate Crisis is an area that children are most passionate about and we needed a Water module to complete our provision. We’re delighted South West Water agreed to come on board and create this key teaching resource for us."

Sing2G7 offers a total of 15 teaching modules which can be downloaded for free from www.sing2g7.org