Arundel school pupil wins MP’s Christmas card competition

Andrew met the winner of his 2021 Christmas card competition on Friday (10th December).

Ottilie Seeds of Arundel Church of England Primary School entered a bold collage picture of a snowy Arundel Castle against a dark sky.  Her design was selected by Andrew and his co-judge, Hassocks-based artist and illustrator, Ruth Waters.  They both agreed the picture would look great as a printed Christmas card.

Andrew presented Ottilie, and runner up Poppy Pritchett, who is also a pupil at Arundel Church of England Primary School, with a small prize each and personally thanked them for their artwork.

The MP also visited St Philips Catholic School in Arundel and schools in Hurstpierpoint and Pulborough last week (December 3rd) to meet some of the other children who were amongst the winners in his annual Christmas card competition.

Iyla-Rose Thomas of St Philips Catholic School in Arundel, Elsie Hawkins of St Lawrence Church of England Primary School, Gemma Bramley of St Mary’s Church of England School in Pulborough, Elsie Humphries and Leyton Jones of Hurstpierpoint College Preparatory School, were all runners-up in Andrew’s search for a Christmas card design.  Their pictures will be printed on one side of the card.

Andrew received around 200 entries into his competition, and he has written a letter of thanks to every single child who took part.  All the pictures are available to view at his website – www.andrewgriffithmp.com/christmas.

The MP’s Christmas card will be sent to over 1,500 people including Prime Minster Boris Johnson.  This year’s card sponsor is the Wiston Estate which is getting ready to open the doors to its new restaurant Chalk, in the heart of the South Downs.

Richard Goring, Estate Manager of the Wiston Estate, said: “We love the Christmas cards designs!  What a joyful selection.  There are clearly some budding artists in the entries.”

Andrew Griffith said: “I am absolutely delighted to have received so many wonderful pictures by local schoolchildren.  It was incredibly hard to choose the best ones and am grateful to Hassocks-based artist and illustrator Ruth Waters for helping me with this daunting task.  I enjoyed meeting Ottilie and all of the other winners and being able to say thank you for all of their hard work.”

ENDS

1. Photographs attached:
   1. Ottilie Seeds (Winner), Andrew, and Poppy Pritchett (runner up), Arundel C of E School.
   2. Andrew with Iyla-Rose Thomas (runner up), St Philips Catholic School in Arundel
   3. Ottilie Seeds’ winning artwork