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Two Flintshire high school students could see their designs on a new set of stamps after winning the regional finals of a record-breaking competition.
The entries by Flint High School’s Shachow Ali, Year 8, and Jessica Roberts, Year 11, have been chosen as two of the final 24 to make it through to the final round of The Heroes Stamp Design Competition, which was created by Royal Mail to honour those who have gone above and beyond to help others during the pandemic.
Their striking designs had already shortlisted the students in the top 120 regional finalists out of an astonishing 606,049 entries from 7,479 schools across the UK. The amazing number of entries helped secure a Guinness World Records title for the largest postage stamp design competition.
The winners from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the nine English regions were judged by Prime Minister Boris Johnson; family of Captain Sir Tom Moore, his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and grandchildren, Benjie and Georgia; Baroness Floella Benjamin; and Simon Thompson, CEO, Royal Mail.
The Prince of Wales, who has previously chaired the judging panels for stamp design competitions run by Royal Mail, will now make the final selection of eight designs and the winners will be announced by the end of February 2022.
As regional winners Shachow and Jessica have each won £500 and £500 each for the school. If they get through to the final eight, they will win a further £1,000 each and £1,000 each for their school, as well as the incredible achievement of having their design made into an official Royal Mail stamp that will be issued next Spring.
Claire Evans, head of Year 11 and art, said: “Our huge congratulations go to Shachow and Jessica for winning the regional finals, this is a truly fantastic accomplishment. They are both such talented artists and their designs are outstanding in their artistic skill and in their reflection of the brief.
“It is an incredible achievement for our school to have the two students representing Wales in the final of this prestigious competition. We are all so proud of Shachow and Jessica and wish them the very best of luck for the final stage.
Shachow’s design is a drawing of Captain Tom. He said: “I was very surprised to be selected as one of the finalists, I never expected it. My family are very excited and happy for me. It has been a great experience to be involved in the competition.”
Jessica’s design illustrates health workers from around the world who have worked so hard to save lives during the pandemic.
She said: “I was also very excited to be selected, it was totally unexpected. This is such an exciting opportunity and to think that my design or Shachow’s could potentially appear on stamps is amazing.
“My family are so pleased and we’re all excited to hear who will be the lucky eight to win the final.”
