Published on: 27 September 2024
A local NHS Trust has announced the winners of a writing competition for children and young people that shows how deeply and movingly young people think about their lives and their place in the world.
Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with its Council of Governors, invited children and young people in Derby and Derbyshire to send an original poem, prose, letter, diary entry or blog post on the theme of 'what it's like to be me'.
There were 14 finalists selected and the winners of the competition were announced at the Trust’s Annual Members Meeting on Thursday 26 September. The Annual Members Meeting provided an opportunity for anyone to come and hear about the progress the Trust has made in 2023/24 and priorities for 2024/25.
This year’s meeting focused on ‘the health of our children and young people’, as the Trust provides a range of children's and family health services – which made the writing competition particularly appropriate. The aim of the competition was to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion by giving entrants the opportunity to write about themselves and to share their experiences with others.
The winners of the writing competition were:
- Ages 5-7 years: Ivy Irunga Slack
Ivy (age 6) explains all the qualities that make her who she is, and how she is “inspired by the rebel women of the world”.
- Ages 8-10 years: Francesca Bowers
Francesca (age 9) wrote a witty poem entitled ‘little old me’ about the importance of accepting your differences and embracing your uniqueness.
- Ages 11-13 years: Stanley Yapp
Stanley (age 12) uses his love of football to explain what the sport means to him and how this brings him joy, in a poem called ‘football freedom’.
- Ages 14-18 years: Zofie Selucker
Zofie (age 15) speaks movingly on the challenges of self-love and acceptance in her prose piece called ‘A stained canvas’.
The following people were awarded highly commended:
- Phoebe Watkins (age 7) explains what a typical Saturday looks like to her.
- Rebekah Ager (age 9) writes an acrostic poem using the first letter of each line to spell out ‘autistic’ to describe what it is like to be autistic.
- Delilah Burns (age 11) focuses on what it’s like to have dyslexia.
- Priya Munnien (age 14) uses the analogy of being ‘locked away’ in a room to express what it is like to be her.
Prizes for the winners include a certificate and book token.
Denise Baxendale, the Membership Manager at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We were so pleased that children and young people in Derby and Derbyshire put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, to take part in this competition. The judges – who included local author Frey Wolfe – were very impressed by the quality and honesty of the entries we received, which showed the full range of human emotion. As an NHS Trust that provides mental health and emotional wellbeing services, we want to encourage people of all ages to express how they feel, in whatever form that takes. Hopefully this competition will inspire others to open up about ‘what it’s like to be me’.”
Freya Wolfe, local author who was on the judging panel, said: “It was a real gift for me to read work by these talented young people. In all of the age categories, they wrote meaningfully about their lives and what makes them so wonderful and unique. I was truly fascinated by the insights that these young people gave in terms of what it means to be neuro-diverse, or to be dealing with mental health issues; it’s such a courageous and inspiring thing to talk about and they all did it in such a meaningful way.
“As someone who loves creative writing and words, I was also impressed by the quality of their writing, not just communicating heartfelt messages but also doing so in an imaginative form, using poetry and prose to reflect their experiences. Overall, what stood out to me was the joy that most of these young people felt for themselves and their individualism; the message that it’s wonderful to be yourself is so important for all of us, children and adults alike.”
You can read the work of all 14 finalists on the Derbyshire Healthcare website. Go to ‘get involved’ and then ‘writing competition for children and young people’.
