A COLLEGE students' union is celebrating after winning a top award.

Wigan and Leigh College Students’ Union won the Non-Commercial Environmental Innovation award at the National Union of Students annual awards ceremony at Bolton's Macron Stadium.

Environmental Innovation awards were presented to three unions represented at Students’ Unions 2015 which go beyond the required actions for Green Impact accreditation, and push their own sustainability ideas.

Wigan and Leigh College were praised for showing how effectively 'education for sustainable development' can be incorporated into vocational subjects.

A project concentrating on the impact of toxic chemicals, and how best to avoid them in practice, has educated students and the local community.

Richard Brooks, NUS vice-president for union development, said: “The awards are fundamentally about celebrating excellence across the many and varied activities of students' unions.

“We're building a fairer, better education system and a more just world. I hope the awards encourage, inspire and, most importantly, build pride in our national efforts towards that. The unions that have won awards have shown the ability to organise students and make a real change both in the lives of their students and the world around them.”