Children’s Christmas Card Competition

Over the past month, children in the Midlands have been exercising their artistic talents to design a Christmas card for Children Today.

On Sunday November 2nd the winners were announced at Castle Galleries in Leamington Spa. Ten of the impressive entries were Highly Commended and shortlisted for the final judging. The children and their parents were invited to a reception at the Gallery where all the designs were on show.

James Plaskitt MP presented certificates to the children whose designs were Highly Commended and then Ellie Wardle, currently managing the gallery, made the final judging decisions.

The standard was extremely high and the decision was very difficult but finally, in the 8 and under category, the winner was Nipuni Wijeratne, aged 7, from The Kingsley School, with her gorgeous, cheerful Snowman design. The 9 and over category was won by Ellie Garden, aged 10, whose Night before Christmas scene impressed the judges with it’s attention to detail. Both winners were also presented with art materials kits to nurture their talents.

The two winning designs will be printed as cards and sold from a number of retail stores around the town including Castle Galleries itself. Due to the generous sponsorship of the gallery, 100% of the profits from sales will be donated to the charity, considerably more than the normal percentage from most charity cards available on the High Street.

Ellie Wardle, judge, said, “We are delighted that Castle Galleries could be involved in this competition, not just to help raise money for this wonderful cause but also to encourage local young artists.”

We’d like to thank Castle Galleries for their support, James Plaskitt for presenting to the winners, Simon Coates for the photographs, Matthew Sparkes for the design work creating the cards and Ellie, Nipuni and all the children for their wonderful entries.

If you would like to buy some of these beautiful and unique cards but can’t get to the gallery, then please call our Regional Fundraising Manager, Emma Fawcett, on 07912 308576 who will be glad to help.