South East Water has officially announced its sponsorship of Social Enterprise Kent’s (SEK) upcoming Green School Awards 2026. As part of the sponsorship, the water company will back the programme from its initial launch through to the final awards ceremony in November 2026.
The Green School Awards celebrate the innovative environmental and sustainability initiatives led by schools, colleges, teachers, and young people across Kent and Medway. By highlighting student-led projects - ranging from energy conservation and waste reduction to biodiversity and tree planting - the awards aim to inspire the next generation of eco-conscious citizens.
For South East Water, which supplies top-quality drinking water to 2.3 million customers across the south east, the partnership represents a natural extension of its corporate mission. Their customers rely on a secure supply of the region's natural resource – water. This is why the company sees its role as guardians of the environment. Protecting these precious natural resources starts right in the heart of local communities: in schools.
Supporting the Green School Awards 2026 allows the business to stand side-by-side with local educational communities to champion sustainability and secure a greener future.
South East Water will play an active role in the awards process, with company representatives joining the panel to review nominations and judge the categories, as well as attending the final celebration in November.
The sponsorship highlights South East Water's ongoing, direct commitment to educational communities across Kent. The utility provider actively works with local schools to foster a proactive "leak culture" - helping to combat the hidden leaks that account for 70 per cent of school water loss - while providing free water-saving visits, water-saving devices, interactive classroom talks, and educational resources like the AquaSmart programme.
Welcoming the partnership, Sophie Wallace, Corporate Funding Manager at Social Enterprise Kent said:
“I am absolutely delighted to be working with South East Water as a supporter of the Green School Awards. Their commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility aligns so closely with our mission to inspire and celebrate young people who are making a real difference in their schools and communities. Having partners like South East Water involved helps us to amplify the impact of the awards and recognise the incredible creativity, passion and leadership shown by students across Kent schools.” - Sophie Wallace, Corporate Funding Manager.
The Green School Awards 2026 programme is now officially underway, with further details on how Kent and Medway schools can submit their environmental projects for nomination to be shared in the coming weeks.
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Contact Information
- Press Office: press.office@southeastwater.co.uk
Notes to editors
- About South East Water
South East Water supplies top-quality drinking water to 2.3 million customers across the south east of England. Our teams work hard to keep taps flowing across parts of Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. Through a network of 9,000 miles of pipe, we deliver 543 million litres of water every day.
To supply our customers, we draw water from more than 250 boreholes, six rivers and six reservoirs. This water is treated at one of our 88 treatment works.
We carry out almost two million water quality tests a year at our state-of-the-art laboratory in Hampshire, on up to 1,000 different water samples taken daily from treatment works, storage reservoirs, customers’ own taps and other commercial activities.
Our customers rely on a secure supply of our natural resource – water. That’s why we see our role as guardians of the environment.
For further information, please visit southeastwater.co.uk(opens in a new tab).
- About Social Enterprise Kent (SEK)
SEK is a leading social enterprise dedicated to improving lives and supporting communities across Kent and Medway through impact-driven community programmes, training, and events like the Green School Awards.
For further information, please visit their website(opens in a new tab).
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