I’m delighted to share that three pupils from St Monica Primary School are the winners of my annual Southampton Itchen Christmas Card Competition.
Each year, I invite all primary school-aged children in the constituency to take part, and this year I received more than 300 fantastic entries from budding young artists across Southampton. The creativity on show was incredible, and choosing the winners was no easy task.
The winning design on the front of my Christmas card was created by Robyn, aged 9, whose artwork shows a colourful visit from Santa near Southampton’s historic city walls. The two runner-up designs, which appear on the back of the card, were designed by Georgia, aged 9, and Hugo, aged 8, both also pupils at St Monica Primary School.
I was very pleased to visit St Monica Primary School on Thursday 11 December to congratulate Robyn, Georgia and Hugo in person and to present them with copies of the finished card. Their designs are already being shared far and wide, I’ve personally presented a card to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, and hand-delivered one to the Prime Minister and his family at 10 Downing Street.
Over the coming days, I’ll be sending these cards to people across Southampton and beyond, including community leaders, people I’ve met on visits, and even the King and Queen.
It’s no exaggeration to say that choosing the winners from hundreds of brilliant entries was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do this year. We have so many fantastically creative children in Southampton, and I want to thank every young person who took the time to enter.
A huge well done to Robyn, Georgia and Hugo, who approached this year’s theme: “What does Christmas in Southampton mean to you?”; with real creativity and style. The office post sack is already filling up, and I’m really looking forward to sharing their wonderful designs with people across the city and beyond.
I’m also grateful to Richard Waghorn, Head of School, and Hayley Clark, Interim Principal, who shared how proud everyone at St Monica Primary School is of the pupils’ achievement. It’s fantastic to see their work being celebrated so widely and representing Southampton at Christmas.