Hade Edge Junior and Infant school has been crowned winners of Huddersfield Town and Marshalls' inaugural schools initiative 'Pitch In'!

25 schools took part in the competition which involved pupils working in a group to design a garden for their school before presenting their idea to the judges, who included Town's Ambassador Andy Booth, Business Development Manager Mark Davies, Schools Co-Ordinator Rachel Taylor, the Examiner's gardening expert Graham Porter and Neil Davidson from Marshalls.

Schools as far afield as Crigglestone, Wakefield and Denby Dale took part in the competition.

The schools' presentations and ideas were marked by the judges using a score sheet which took into consideration education values, overall design, uniqueness, 'wow factor' and recycling benefits. According to Andy Booth, Hade Edge's presentation "ticked all the boxes."

Hade Edge's winning garden idea!

First draft by Marshalls of how the garden will look at the school

Final design

He added: "Every entry was very good and it proved to be a very difficult decision. Hade Edge's idea was based around a Wizard of Oz theme and their design included a yellow brick road - it definitely stood out. In the end, it was a unanimous decision.

"All the pupils did really well and every school we visited presented their ideas well. Their confidence was clear to see - standing up in front of four strangers and pitching an idea is something that I would struggle to do.

"In conclusion it couldn't have gone any better; it was great that the football club and Marshalls were able to give something back to the community. Following on from the success of this year we hope to do something similar with Marshalls next year."

'Boothy', Mark and Rachel will join members of Marshalls' design team to go to a meeting at the school on the 28 February to discuss production of the garden. Once the garden is completed at the school, the pupils will visit Canalside Sports Complex - the Club's training ground - to help design a replica.

Huddersfield Town and Marshalls would to thank all the school teachers and pupils who took part in Pitch In. A gallery from the initiative is now on - www.facebook.com/htafcdotcom.