Shropshire Star

Darwin designs flood in for annual Shrewsbury competition

Children at Shrewsbury’s Packwood Haugh School were inspired by Charles Darwin to give full rein to their creativity and imagination in a special workshop.

Published
Last updated
Children at Shrewsbury’s Packwood Haugh School with Morris scholar Paige Eades and Katie Morris from Morris & Company

They were invited to design a striking emblem to celebrate Darwin and enter their work in the Shropshire Young Thinkers’ Competition.

This year’s theme is Darwin’s 2020 Vision and young people from throughout the county have until December 20 to submit their entries.

Morris & Company has organised the annual competition with University Centre Shrewsbury (UCS) for children aged seven to 12.

Morris Scholar Paige Eades, who won the first Morris Scholarship at UCS, went along with Morris & Company’s marketing director, Katie Morris, to Packwood Haugh to speak to pupils about the competition and encourage their participation.

Katie said: “The children were enthusiastic and came up with some really imaginative designs to celebrate Darwin and his links with Shrewsbury. The competition really seems to have struck a chord with them."

The winning design will feature on specially created flags for Charles Darwin’s birthday celebrations in February 2020 in Shrewsbury - the town of his birth.

Packwood Haugh deputy headteacher, Roy Chambers, said: “This was a fun way for the children to learn about Charles Darwin and respond with creative ideas. The Shropshire Young Thinkers’ Competition is a great opportunity to spark children’s imagination."

It is the third time the competition has been run. Last year’s letters to Darwin theme attracted nearly 500 entries. This year’s theme is open to interpretation, with judges including celebrated Shropshire artist Linda Edwards.

Twenty finalists’ designs will be shown in a special exhibition at the Shrewsbury Art Gallery & Museum. The overall winner’s design will feature on flags flying over University Centre Shrewsbury and Morris & Company and will be displayed as wall art and on t-shirts. A trophy and a family VIP cinema experience will also go to the winner.

The competition rounds off a year-long celebration of Morris & Company’s 150th anniversary in Shropshire.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.