I told the children at the awards ceremony, that an idea can hold you captive. Or it can set you free, once you share it with just one other person.
It was this time last year when I had the idea to host a Children’s Creative Writing Competition to increase participation in the annual Leeds Literature Festival where I volunteer my time as a member of the board of directors. So, back in June last year I took my own advice and shared this idea with Helen Clapham, Director of External Relations at GSAL. She thought it was a wonderful idea and was excited to offer me her support to turn the idea into a reality. She introduced me to the wonderful GSAL Events Officer, Nadia Biscoe Clienti has been right at my side throughout the planning to help make this wonderful event a possibility.
One of my fellow director from the Leeds Lit Fest, Alan Benstock, suggested we could incorporate the competition with the city’s celebration of 400 years since Leeds received its Royal Charter from King Charles I back in 1626 and he liaised with the Lord Mayor’s office. Members of the board and the steering group got involved, and we had a wonderful buzz to help spread the word about the competition across the city.
We invited children from all across the city to write ‘400 words to celebrate Leeds 400’ and soon this little seed of an idea grew into the successful awards ceremony kindly hosted by our festival partner, the Grammar School at Leeds. They sent an email out to every primary and secondary school all across the city and we made sure each child knew that we were not interested in spelling or grammar. Their work was assessed by two independent judges Natalie and Kerry on Originality, Plot, Characterisation, Language, and Enjoyment (we borrowed this judging guidance from the BBC 500 words children’s story writing rules).
When we thought about the legacy of an event like this, we approached the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society who offered to publish the winning entries on their website.
It took a real team effort to bring my idea to fruition. On behalf of the board at the Leeds Literature Festival I would like to thank all the parents, teachers, judges, GSAL staff behind the scenes (technician, catering, receptionist, cleaners) as well as our steering group members who helped on the night and in preparation. We could not have done this without each and every one of you.
Which reminds me of an old Irish proverb, ‘Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine’ which translated into English means ‘It is in the shelter of each other the people thrive’.
