SCHOOLCHILDREN have had their winning bird box designs unveiled in the courtyard of a new north Durham health centre.

Children from Greenland Junior School and St Joseph’s RCVA Primary School were encouraged to use their creativity to design wacky bird boxes that could be installed at the £12m Primary Care Centre in Stanley.

The children submitted ideas for the boxes and a shortlist of five designs was created to mirror the original designs as closely as possible.

The winning designs were submitted by Mary Kilby, Michael Brown and Jenifer Davison, formerly of St Joseph’s RCVA Primary School and now at St Bede’s RC School in Lanchester and Lauren Musgrove and Bailey Gilbert from Greenland Juniors School.

They were unveiled by non-executive director Keith Tallintire at event attended by the children, their parents and teachers.

He said: "You could tell that the children had a lot of fun designing the boxes and it was really great to see their faces when the boxes were unveiled and they saw their designs in real life for the first time.

"The boxes add a real fun feel to the courtyard area at the new centre that we hope children from all over the area will enjoy when they visit."

The new Stanley Primary Care Centre brings together a wide range of services under one roof, in a modern healthcare environment and is intended to regenerate town centre of the former pit town.

Debbie Edwards, assistant director of strategic projects and developments said: "Getting local people involved in the centre has always been a top priority for us, ever since before the centre was even built.

"I’m also really pleased that the children were involved in a project that has led to something tangible being created and will be displayed in the courtyard area for them to visit and reflect in years to come: ‘I did that’."