Budding young writers have their stories on display at Charnwood Museum

A five-year-old won an award for her story Sophie’s Visit.

Talented young writers have their stories on display at Charnwood Museum at the moment.

The 4 to 16-year-olds all took part in a storytelling competition inspired by Charnwood Museum’s hugely popular exhibition, The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

The children’s story competition invited budding young writers to send in their own short stories and illustrations inspired by the exhibition – and 24 entries were received across the three categories.

The under-sevens category was jointly won by Nell Boulton (five) with her story, Sophie’s Visit, and Isabelle Carlile (six) with Olivia and the Bad Dream.

Nine-year-old Tillie McClelland won the seven-11 category with The Llama Who Came to Lunch and there were joint winners in the 12-16 category - Urban Townes (12) with The Tiger Strikes Again and Sophie Worth (14), with The Tiger at the Party.

Councillor Jenny Bokor, lead member for Loughborough at Charnwood Borough Council, said: "The Tiger Who Came to Tea has been a wonderful exhibition and the number of visitors to Charnwood Museum has shown that they have truly taken it to their hearts.

"A huge congratulations to the winners of the writing competition and thank you to all the children who entered. It is fantastic to know that we have so many creative and talented children in Charnwood. Well done to you all."

The prize-winning stories and illustrations are now on display at the museum, along with many of the other entries.

Councillor Christine Radford, Leicestershire County Council's cabinet member for heritage, leisure and arts, said: "The attendance figures show that the Tiger Who Came to Tea was one of the most popular exhibitions ever held at Charnwood Museum.

"The number and high standard of entries received for the story writing competition again illustrates that this wonderful story is still playing its part in inspiring a new generation of readers, more than 50 years after it was written."