Once Upon a Letter writing competition winners revealed!

Evie, Drew and Rowan (top, left to right); Freddie, Paige and Hugo (bottom, left to right).

Jersey Post is delighted to announce the winners of their inaugural Once Upon a Letter writing competition! The competition formed part of Jersey Post’s campaign to reignite the love of letter writing in a busy digital world, where our connection is often fleeting and easily forgotten about.

Over 300 children entered the competition where the story took the form of a letter in less than 500 words. The entries were judged by children’s author Penny Byrne, Nicola Mackareth from the charity Every Child Our Future, Sophia Cottier from the Jersey Post marketing team and postie and ex-teacher Rachel Selby. It was a very tough job for the judges, who were transported to magical worlds filled with dragons, aliens, wild animals and wizards; witnessed historical events; and met famous names such as Bluey, Horrid Henry, Anne Boleyn and Emma Watson. Some were hilarious, whilst others were more poignant stories.

With a drumroll, the category winners are….

Age 5-6 winner: Evie, with Fluffball the dragon.

Age 7-8 winner: Drew, with a historical account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Age 9-11 winner: Rowan, with a Hansel and Gretel-inspired letter.

And the highly commended category entries….

Age 5-6: Freddie with the mischievous tale of Wizard Pindlewick.

Age 7-8: Paige, with a story about living with wolves.

Age 9-11: Hugo, with a tale about a new superhero, Banana Boy

Judge Penny Byrne says: “So many amazingly creative ‘story letters’ were sent in. I loved reading all of them and was genuinely impressed by the time and effort that had been put into them.”

Above, (left) some of the creative entries; (right) Nicola Mackareth (centre), Penny Byrne (right) and Sophia Cottier on the judging day.

Mark Siviter, CEO of Jersey Post says: “The level of creativity was truly inspiring, and it was great to see so many children getting involved. A handwritten letter says so much more and I hope the competition encourages children to continue to write and send letters to share news and stories. Thank you to all the parents, teachers and schools who helped children to take part, and to Jersey Library, who hosted one of our Post Boxes, collating entries.”

You can read all the winning and highly commended stories on our website at www.jerseypost.com/write.