We are delighted to unveil the winners of the ‘Bee a Reader’ creative writing competition from the Read Manchester campaign in partnership with Wild in Art’s Bee in the City.
Read Manchester teamed up with Bee in the City this summer to challenge children in Manchester aged between 7 and 16 to write up to 500 words on the topic of “a day in the life of a Manchester bee”, as part of Bee in the City’s wider learning programme. After receiving more than 300 entries, representatives from the National Literacy Trust, Manchester City Council and Wild in Art selected two overall winning entrants and four runners-up.
The talented winners from two age categories, 7 to 11 and 12 to 16, were Lewis Melvin from St Margaret Mary's R.C. Primary School and Annabel Hall from Co-Op Academy Manchester. Both have won:
- Family return train tickets to London
- A tour of the BBC’s MediaCityUK
- £100 in shopping vouchers
- A blank Little Bee sculpture
The runners-up, Ted Hayes, Aaminah Arif, Milan Morris-Gibson and Riley Bulcock.
The Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor June Hitchen, met with the creative writing competition winners last week for a prize-giving presentation in the Lord Mayor’s rooms, followed by a tour of Central Library.
The Bee in the City learning programme included the Read Manchester ‘Bee a Reader’ challenge, which encouraged children and families to take part in a series of literacy activities, a series of events at Manchester libraries, and the creative writing competition. Using the buzz around the bee sculptures that appeared across the city, the initiative inspired children and families to share stories and help avoid the summer learning loss that many pupils experience over the summer holidays.
Jason Vit, National Literacy Trust Hubs Manager, said:
“We were thrilled to receive so many amazing entries for this competition, on which pupils across the city worked so hard over the school holidays. We know that giving children the freedom to write about a topic they are passionate about can be a fantastic way of inspiring them to enjoy writing, which has an important impact on their success at school and in the future.”
Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Schools, Culture and Leisure, Manchester City Council, said:
“We read so many brilliant ‘Bee a Reader’ competition entries, all celebrating the culture and creativity of Manchester. Lewis and Annabel’s pieces stood out for their extraordinary originality and imagination. We hope they will enjoy their fantastic prizes!”
