Mirfield Rotary Club announces winners of its ‘Environment Art’ competition

The competition, which involved designing a greeting card, was supported by several local schools including Crowlees Junior and Infant school, The Mirfield Free Grammar School and Ravenshall school.

The competition involved five categories for children aged from five to 14, including a category for special educational needs (SEND) for Ravenshall School.

The children were encouraged to use their imagination to design artwork which covered environmental issues, sustainability and climate change.

Local artists Julia Boredino, from Mirfield Art Hub, and Caroline Pratt, from West Yorkshire Print Works (WYPW) in Mirfield, volunteered to judge the entries.

In total, 80 entries were submitted, with 25 shortlisted and displayed at Mirfield Library, where the children and parents could view them and take part in a print workshop organised by Fabian Osborne, of WYPW.

The winners of the five categories included Amelie Wilkinson, Florence Reed and Paige Hepworth from Crowlees, Penny Wilkinson-Wright from Mirfield Free Grammar and Abbie Jo Stephenson from Ravenshall.

These winners were then invited to Mirfield Rotary Club to receive their prizes, which included a book token and a greeting card showcasing their own artwork.

A special Mirfield Rotary Club Award for Art was also awarded to Abbie Jo Stephenson for her polar bear artwork.

President of Mirfield Rotary Club, Maureen Leask, congratulated the winners.

She said: “The environment is very important and we are hoping to do more environmental projects in the future.”

Julia and Caroline also sent messages of congratulations and both said they were “very impressed” by the high standard of entries and felt it was a “difficult decision” to choose the five winners.

They both noted that it was clear the winners cared deeply for the planet’s environment and showed enthusiasm and passion for protecting the planet and looking after the environment with the focus on recycling, pollution, endangered habitat and species.

It was also felt that the winners had a grasp of the complexities of the subject by highlighting concerns and presenting plenty of solutions to solving some of the difficult issues.

As well as judging the entries, Julia donated some of her prints as prizes for the winners and teachers. Caroline also donated print kits and a WYPW workshop for the five winners.

The five different designs of greeting cards are currently being sold by Mirfield Rotary Club at a cost of £1 each.

The cards are being sold to raise funds for several environmental projects that the club has been involved in locally.

To purchase a card, contact [email protected]