Our Lockdown Letter Competition winners!

We’re excited to announce the winners of our letter writing competition - From me to you – when we asked children in Barnet to write or draw something about their experience of lockdown that we could share with some of our older friends.

The winners are 9-year-old Charlie, from St John's School in Friern Barnet, who wrote an incredibly honest and heartwarming letter about his life in lockdown, and 11-year-old Ananya, from Barnet, who composed a very sweet uplifting poem about grandparents.

'What I particularly loved about the winning entries was the interesting and beautiful way that they shared something special about themselves, in particular Charlie’s description of his 74-year-old tree-climbing grandad!’ says Professor Catherine Loveday, our trustee and one of our three judges.

‘The overall standard was really high and I was touched by how much effort the children made.  As well as sharing stories and facts about themselves, they were also very thoughtful and many of them offered words of comfort and positivity.’

The idea behind the competition was to reach out to our older friends and help them feel more connected and less socially isolated. Many have been cut off from life outside.

This is exactly what inspired winner Ananya to write her poem. ‘I live with my grandparents so when I heard about older people being on their own, I wanted to help and let them know we were thinking of them. I hope it makes them feel happier.’

‘Social isolation can be very damaging so the main aim of this project was to show our older neighbours that they are not alone and that many people are thinking of them,’ says Catherine.  ‘We thought that letters from young people might be particularly helpful and comforting, and at the same time it would strengthen connections between these generations. By encouraging the children to think about their older neighbours, we also hoped it might make them more aware of their vulnerability and do their bit to keep them safe by wearing masks and washing their hands.'

These letters and pictures will be shared with Barnet’s older community and we will select the best ones for a book that will be available to buy - this book will be a snapshot of these unprecedented times that people will refer to in years to come!

We had two categories for entries: school years 4-6 and school years 7-8, and the winner in each category will receive a £20 voucher!