Astellas calendar out of this world

IT’S one of the main events of the year for primary and secondary school pupils in mid Kerry as the annual Astellas calendar awards take centre stage. Each year the Astellas Kerry plant in Killorglin encourages schools in the district to get creative on a topic of local, national or, as in the case of this year, universal, interest.

This year’s calendar asked pupils to devise strategies and ideas that would assist in the protection of the environment and the ways in which we can all work towards preserving nature and protecting our planet.

Gina Halliday is the Astellas Health and Safety Manager and she described the submissions this year as being, quite literally, out of this world.

“This year’s theme was the environment and protecting nature and the entries were just brilliant. We had 13 winners and 14 highly commended entries across various age categories from 4-yearolds all the way up to ages 16 to 18. We also had a category for employees’ children and for children with special needs,” said Gina.

Gina said the protection of the environment is something the Astellas pharmaceutical plant in Killorglin is committed to and it’s an issue very much to the fore of the company’s overall production strategy.

“This really is an area we’re committed to which was reflected in the range of entries submitted by the pupils this year.

“They’re all fantastic as they convey a strong message on the need to look after our planet. I guess you could say in that respect, they were out of this world,” added Gina.

Photos by Michelle Cooper Galvin Patricia Quane Vice President and General Manager Astellas Ireland (seated centre) with the winners of the Astellas 2017 Calendar with the proceeds going to the Irish Kidney Association (front from left) Nadia Maszczyk, Ummi Shinohara, Rachel...