A school letter-writing competition has been launched for Ashby children to write about their lives during lockdown - and it is aimed at brightening the days of local care home residents.

Open to all Primary and Junior-age children, the winning letter will receive £200-worth of books for their school.

The winning school will also win a Raring2go! stationary bundle and two runners-up will win mini-book bundles.

After the competition ends, the letters will be sent to care home residents to read and will then be displayed as part of a special community exhibition at The Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton-on-Trent.

Five additional letters of merit will be selected by Raring2go!, and will win a family pass each to either a live or streamed show hosted by The Brewhouse.

Alice Johnson, Editor, Raring2go! Burton & Ashby, said: "During the November lockdown, I noticed a few local care homes requesting letters from local school children.

"The isolating residents were so happy to receive the letters that I thought the competition would be a great way to encourage the community spirit we all need at the moment. It is also a great way for children to learn about the lost art of letter writing.

"All letters – no matter how long or short – will be sent to care homes either by post for quarantine before distribution, or digitally.

"I'm delighted to announce that H&H Spalding Books of Barton-Under-Needwood have donated £200-worth of books for the winning pupil's school; and I'm very grateful to Gemma Callaghan of Hoo's Writing Corner, who will be judging the competition.

"I'm also thrilled to say that the letters will be displayed as part of a special exhibition at The Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton-on-Trent, once the competition ends."

The winning letter will be published in the Spring edition of Raring2go! Burton & Ashby, the Go-to Guide for you and your child, a free quarterly parent-focussed magazine covering Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Leicestershire.

The maximum word count is 300 while the minimum is 40.

A selection of letters will also be displayed on the UK-wide Raring2go! online network, which reaches hundreds of thousands of families every month, from Aberdeen to Bournemouth.

Amanda Robertson, H&H Spalding Books, said: "We are delighted to be a part of this wonderful competition.

"During lockdown we continue to work with schools. If you would like to support us whilst we are closed, please contact us direct on 01283 712220. Or visit Raring2Go.

Entries should be emailed to Alice Johnson at [email protected] by March 8 deadline; and can either be photos of hand-written letters or word documents. Winners will be notified of their success before the Spring magazine is released, before the Easter holidays.

Gemma Callaghan, Editor, Hoo's Writing Corner, said: "At Hoo's Writing Corner, we believe that learning doesn't have to come from a class textbook and can be taught practically from a variety of different resources – that's why we created Hoo's Writing Corner. The benefits of creative writing include engaging the creative side of the brain to come up with different scenarios, problem-solving, spelling and sentence construction, imagination as well as expressing emotions."

Entries should be labelled with the child's name, age and school. Children's names won't be published without prior parental consent. Raring2go! Burton & Ashby has also provided a downloadable PDF letter writing template, to help schools take part in the competition.

This can be downloaded here: Letter Writing Competition.

If you are a care home that is willing to receive letters for their residents, please get in touch.

"On a personal note, I haven't hugged my mum or seen my elderly grandparents in person for almost a year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, so I know how isolating it is to be part of the older generation at this difficult time," said Alice. "I hope that the letters spread some happiness among the loneliest people in our community."