Competition details

Chartwells is pleased to announce the first year of an exciting project. We invite entries for our schools' competition to celebrate the dying art of letter writing. For full details please see below.

Age categories:

There will be three age categories: 5-11,12-15,16-19.

For each of these there will be a winner and two runners-up.

Requirements:

The letter should be half a side of A4 typed or one side hand-written for the youngest group, and for the older students two sides typed, or four sides hand-written.

Entry submission:

Entries need to be emailed to us at competitions@chartwells.com with the following information:

• the name, address and age of the student
• the name and address of the school
• the name and signature of the headteacher, verifying the student's age and that the letter is their own work.

Alternatively you can post entries to Chartwells, Compass Group UK & Ireland, Rivermead, Oxford Road, Denham, UB9 4BF.

Judging:

The closing date for entries will be 1st October 2010.

The judging panel will consist of writers who have spoken at the Oxford Literary Festival 2010.  Their decisions will be announced by November 2010.  The prizes will be presented at the Festival, at Christchurch College in March 2011.

The judges will consider the following criteria when making their decisions:

• layout and format
• salutation and close
• presentation
• creativity
• logical progression of ideas.

Prizes:

The two runners-up in each category will receive an Amazon voucher worth £25.  The winner of each category will win an engraved pen worth £50 and a voucher worth £100.  The overall winner will win a unique experience for themselves accompanied by friends or family as guests of Chartwells at a cultural or sporting event, and be able to select from an extensive list including hospitality at Wimbledon, Twickenham, or the Open Golf; seats or a box at the Royal Albert Hall, Glyndebourne or the O2 arena. All the finalists will receive a framed certificate as a memento.