Issue 290 – Youngsters’ card designs take them all the way to Downing Street

Story posted on December 16, 2009

Brother and sister Rufus and Emmanuelle Poole were invited to meet the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, last week in Downing Street, after reaching the final stage of a competition to design his official Christmas card.

The national competition was organised by the Day Care Trust, and saw hundreds of entries submitted from across the country. The winner’s card will be sent out to the Chancellor’s friends and colleagues – some of whom are world leaders.
The siblings’ mum Debra heard about the competition at the Key Centre in Frome. Rufus, aged four, and Emmanuelle, aged seven, both worked hard on their designs before sending them off.
The judges of the competition included Keith Chapman (creator of Bob the Builder, Fifi, and Roary the Racing Car) Sonali Shah from CBBC’s Newsround, and Naomi Wilkinson from Five’s Milkshake. They waded through the piles of entries and selected the finalists of the competition.
Both Rufus’ and Emmanuelle’s cards were amongst just six cards shortlisted in their category. They joined four others at the Chancellor’s home, 11 Downing Street, on Tuesday last week.
Unfortunately for the pair their cards were not picked by the Chancellor, but they did enjoy their day in London.
Mum Debra said, “It’s still great that they got to the final stage of the competition. We had a fabulous day and they were both happy because they were given bags of goodies, all signed by Alistair Darling, and they got a certificate each too.
“Rufus was really pleased because Keith Chapman drew him a picture of Bob The Builder.”