Photocall: Wednesday 16 November, 5pm, in the Mayors Parlour, Borough Offices, Bury St Edmunds – Leader of the Council, Cllr John Griffiths, St Edmundsbury Mayor, Cllr Stefan Oliver, Chief Executive, Deborah Cadman and Mary McIntosh, manager of Ottakars book store in Bury St Edmunds, will present prizes to the winners of the Vision 2025 competition.
Solar powered cars, hover board parks, aquariums, submarines that collect rubbish from the bottom of the sea, huge sky scrapers, houses on stilts and a world made out of chocolate; these were just some of the ideas that were sent in as part of the Vision 2025 competition.
As part of our consultation on the Vision 2025 project, we asked young people to send in their ideas for the future and we would swap these for £100 in Ottakars vouchers for their school or youth group. We had a really positive response to the competition and would like to thank everyone who sent in their very creative drawings and pictures. There were some brilliant and rather unusual ideas about what our future will look like!
The entries were so good that the judges decided there should be joint winners. After much debate and deliberation, Georgie Lee (age 9) and Sherilyn Wright (10) from St James Middle School in Bury St Edmunds were picked as the winners. They each win £20 in Ottakars book vouchers plus £100 in vouchers for their school. Sherilyn’s entry showed people jetting around in flying cars and bikes, living in mobile houses or at the top of trees with plenty of entertainment on offer such as a cinemas, pizza restaurants and shops. Georgie decided that in the future people would help save energy and water and live healthy lifestyles with plenty of fresh air, healthy food and relaxing pastimes.
Kerrie Denson, from St James Middle School said:
“We are all really delighted with this news! The two winners did their pictures as part of an Art and Crafts lunchtime club. Sherilyn and Georgie, along with all the members of the club, worked extremely hard on their drawings and had lots of fun in the process. The vouchers will be used to buy some art reference books and various novels for all the students to enjoy and benefit from.”
We also picked some runners up; Caitlin Mayers age 9 from Felix Primary School in Haverhill, Ashley Wiggins and Samuel Bunn, both aged 7 from Guildhall Feoffment Primary School in Bury St Edmunds, Amy Taylor, aged 9 from St Louis Middle School in Bury St Edmunds and Chris Maoulam and Esme Evans aged 8 from Rougham Primary School. They each win £10 in Ottakars book vouchers.
Leader of the Council, Cllr John Griffiths, said:
“We’ve had a fantastic response to the competition and some wonderful and very imaginative entries, so it was very hard to pick the winners. I would like to thank everyone who sent in their ideas, which will no doubt prove to be very helpful as we move forward in the planning of all our futures.”
St Edmundsbury Mayor, Cllr Stefan Oliver, said:
“Some exhilarating ideas have been put forward, many of which no doubt will become reality in time to come. Well done everyone, keep dreaming up the ideas, however fantastic they may seem to us now!"
Mary McIntosh, Manager at Ottakars book store said:
“Ottakar’s were delighted to take part in the gathering of ideas from young people for this project. We hope that the winners will enjoy spending their Ottakar’s vouchers and no doubt will choose books to further fuel their considerable curiosity and creativity. Well done to all!”
All the competition entries will be sealed up in a time capsule, hidden away along with a message to the Council Leader in 20 years’ who will then open it up and see how close the ideas are to reality. All the winning and runner up entries will be published on our website in the next few weeks (www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk). Information about Vision 2025 and the next steps, which includes formal adoption by the full council in December, is also available on our website.
ENDS
ISSUED BY MARIA STAFF, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757033. maria.staff@stedsbc.gov.uk
