LOCAL children have been getting creative with a poetry competition to commemorate Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman CBE.  

Charity, Concern Wadebridge have been marking 40 years since the passing of Poet Laureate Sir John by inviting local primary school children to get stuck into some poetry as part of a competition.  

Concern Wadebridge is an independent charity for the over-50’s. It is based at The John Betjeman Centre which has developed into a community hub for all ages. The charity provides a variety of activities including exercise classes, support groups and has a community café for people to come and have a natter.  

However, recently to commemorate 40 years since the passing of Poet Laureate Sir John, Concern Wadebridge hosted a poetry competition for all Wadebridge area primary school aged children. The theme of the poetry competition was ‘Wadebridge.’ 

The competition was sponsored by Bricknells Stationery who provide the first-place prizes for the best written entries for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children. 

There were also special prizes for the most creative entries. 

Manager Emma Burt said: “We were delighted to receive over 100 entries. I would not only like to say thank you to St Breock Primary School and Wadebridge Primary School for promoting the competition but also to Bricknells for sponsoring the event. A special mention to Cathy and Kevin Daisy, our John Betjeman memorabilia volunteers who came up with the idea of the competition and helped me with the hard task for judging all the brilliant entries. 

“All the winning entries will now be on display at The John Betjeman Centre for the half term holidays and until the end of June. Please come and see the talent for yourselves.” 

Winners in each category of the competition were: 

Best Written Poem Key Stage 1: Lennon (Wadebridge Primary School)  

Best Written Poem Key Stage 2: Daisy (Wadebridge Primary School)  

Best Presented Poem Key Stage 1: FS2 Class (St Breock Primary School)  

Best Presented Poem Key Stage 2: Esmae (St Breock Primary School)  

Highly Commended: Tom (Wadebridge Primary School)