COMPETITION FOR UK CHILDREN TO DESIGN STAMPS MARKING THE AMAZING WORK OF KEY WORKERS AND OTHERS DURING THE PANDEMIC RECEIVED 606,049 ENTRIES
- Royal Mail has announced details of the 120 regional finalists in its Heroes of the Pandemic stamp design competition
- Each of the 120 regional finalists will receive £100 in gift vouchers and £100 for their school
- Entries were submitted from 7,479 schools, helping Royal Mail to secure the Guinness World Records title for Largest postage stamp design competition
- The competition was open to UK children aged 4-14 to design a stamp to celebrate their ‘heroes of the pandemic’
- Eight designs will be chosen as part of a special set of stamps
- The designs highlight the amazing work played by key workers and others in keeping the UK connected during these unprecedented times
- Only five times in Royal Mail’s 500-year history have designs created by children been used on stamps; 1966; 1981; 1992; 2013; and 2017
- The winners will follow in the footsteps of highly acclaimed children’s illustrators who have designed stamps in the past, such as: Quentin Blake; Nick Park; and Axel Scheffler
- Full details can be found at www.royalmail.com/stampcompetition
Royal Mail announced 120 regional finalists in its stamps design competition to celebrate the heroes of the pandemic.
The 120 regional finalists will each receive £100 in gift vouchers and £100 for their school and will go forward to the next stage of the competition with a chance that their design will appear on a stamp next year.
All 120 images can be viewed or downloaded by region: Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | England: East Midlands | East of England | London | North East | North West | South East | South West| West Midlands | Yorkshire & Humber
The announcement comes as Royal Mail secured a Guinness World Records title of Largest postage stamp design competition, which received an incredible 606,049 entries. An astonishing 7,479 schools submitted entries.
The previous highest number of entries received for a stamp design competition was 239,374, achieved for Royal Mail’s Christmas Stamp Design Competition held in 2013.
Royal Mail’s Heroes of the Pandemic stamp competition is now officially: Guinness World Records Largest postage stamp design competition
The largest postage stamp design competition consisted of 606,049 completed submissions and was achieved by Royal Mail Group Limited and iChild Limited (both UK), London, UK, on 1 July 2021.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “It is of great credit to the children of this country that in world record breaking numbers they picked up their paintbrushes, pens and paints and paid artistic tribute to the heroes of our coronavirus response.
“Their brilliant efforts represent the collective gratitude of the nation to everyone who went above and beyond during the pandemic.
“Congratulations to all those who have made it to the next round and thank you to everyone who has taken part and to the teams at Royal Mail for managing this record number of entries.”
Simon Thompson, Royal Mail CEO, said: “We would like to thank all of the 606,049 children who submitted such brilliant designs to the competition. We have been amazed and impressed by the sheer volume of entries. And to have achieved a Guinness World Records title in the process shows how much the UK’s children value those heroes who have kept the nation moving during such a difficult period. To the 120 regional finalists – Well Done! We are really looking forward to seeing the winning eight designs!”
To arrive at the 120 regional finalists, a network of judges, consisting of current and retired art teachers, evaluated each of the 606,049 entries. Over a three-month period, the best entries from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England were chosen from each age group.
From the 120 regional finalists, a special panel of judges will now determine the winning 24 regional designs in November.
From these 24 entries, eight winning images will be chosen as official Royal Mail stamps. They will then appear on millions of items of mail across the UK when they are issued in the Spring of 2022.
The competition was open to UK schoolchildren to mark the important role played by key and frontline workers, as well as others, during the pandemic. Children, aged 4 to 14, were given the chance to design an official Royal Mail stamp as part of a special set of eight. Children were asked to think about who their hero or heroes were, and to design a stamp in their honour.
The designs received celebrate a wide range of heroes, including: NHS workers; mums; dads; carers; refuse collectors; cleaning staff; teachers; supermarket workers; public transport staff; delivery drivers and, indeed, postmen and postwomen. Also depicted on the designs were many volunteers who have helped in their local communities or raised money for charity, such as Captain Sir Tom Moore.
Full details can be found at www.royalmail.com/stampcompetition
As with all Special Stamps issued by Royal Mail, the final eight stamps will be sent to Her Majesty The Queen before they can be printed and issued.
Only five times in the company’s 500-year history have children designed official Royal Mail stamps: 1966; 1981; 1992; 2013; and 2017.
The winners will follow in the footsteps of highly acclaimed children’s illustrators who have designed stamps in the past, such as: Quentin Blake; Nick Park; and Axel Scheffler.