Houses of Parliament trip for primary school Christmas card design comp winners

The young designer of a Christmas card to be sent out by an Assembly Member and Member of Parliament has been revealed.

Alyn and Deeside AM Carl Sargeant and MP Mark Tami were overwhelmed by the quantity and standard of Christmas card designs submitted by the constituency’s children as part of their annual competition.

At a special ceremony held at Toyota’s manufacturing plant on Deeside Industrial Park, the winner was unveiled as being a bright snowman picture created by nine-year-old Callum Allonby of Penarlag County Primary School, Ewloe.

In second place was Carmen Siddall Zapata, a pupil at Broughton Primary School, and Eluned Rathbone-Jones of Sandycroft Primary School was in third place.

“I was really impressed with the standard of the designs this year, which made it very difficult to pick a favourite,” said Mark Tami.

“Callum’s design stood out because he’s given the traditional snowman motif a bit of a modern twist with the colours he’s chosen, and the overall look is really cheerful.”

Carl Sargeant said: “It means a lot that so many children from so many schools have taken the time to enter our competition. It’s fantastic to see the artistic talent growing in Alyn and Deeside, and Mark and I will be proud to send this card out this Christmas.”

Each year Mr Sargeant and Mr Tami invite all of the area’s infant, junior and primary schools to enter the contest to design the card they will send out to their Christmas card lists.

Entries were received from 17 schools, with finalists from each school attending the ceremony with their teachers and parents.

All finalists received a certificate, framed print of their design, gift vouchers and sweets.

Winner Callum also receives a tour of the Houses of Parliament guided by Mark plus a voucher to cover his and his family’s transport costs to London.

Callum’s card will be sent out to local businesses, volunteer groups and politicians including the First Minister, Carwyn Jones.

The competition is made possible with the support of Toyota, UMP Shotton, Edwards Homes and Dandy’s Topsoil.

Main Image: Mark Tami MP with Carmen Siddall Zapata, Eluned Rathbone-Jones and Callum Allonby