ROYAL MAIL LAUNCHES NATIONAL COMPETITION FOR TWO CHILDREN TO DRAW A CHRISTMAS STAMP FOR 2013

• Royal Mail today announces that for the first time in 30 years it is giving schoolchildren the chance to design its Christmas stamps
• Primary school children aged 4-11 are being invited to take part to create the artwork for official Royal Mail  stamps for Christmas 2013 
• There will be two winning pictures - one to appear on a 1^st Class stamp, the other on a 2^nd Class stamp. They will be picked from 120 regional finalists  
• The competition’s theme is “What does the Christmas season mean to you”? The designs can be religious or secular
• Only twice before have children’s designs been used on Christmas stamps; 1966, the year the first Christmas stamps were issued in the UK, and 1981
• The search for the winning designs was launched by children’s author and illustrator Lauren Child, creator of the famous Charlie and Lola characters. All entries have to be received by the closing date of 19 July. Winners will be announced in the autumn  
• Both winning designs will have to be approved by the Queen 
• Full details can be found at www.royalmail.com/designastamp 

Royal Mail is giving primary schoolchildren the chance to create an official Christmas stamp for the first time in more than 30 years.

Only twice before has the company’s official Christmas stamp been designed by schoolchildren – in 1966 and 1981 and today Royal Mail announced details of its 2013 Christmas Stamp Design competition.

Launched by children’s author and illustrator Lauren Child, the competition is open to primary school aged pupils from 4-11, and will give two winners the chance to see their design used by hundreds of thousands of people sending festive greetings to friends and family across the country.

The theme of the competition is “What does the Christmas season mean to you?” and the designs can be religious or secular. As with all Special Stamps issued by Royal Mail, both winning designs will have to be approved by The Queen.

Two winning designs from children will be selected by a panel of judges, and their designs will appear on one of the 1^st and one of the 2^nd Class Christmas Stamps from this year’s range.

Lauren Child said: said, “I’m delighted to be part of this fantastic campaign to get children thinking creatively about what Christmas means to them. As well as seeing their stamps on letters and cards in the UK over the festive season, the winning designers will also join a list of the best children’s illustrators who have designed Christmas Stamps for Royal Mail – a great honour indeed.”

Stephen Agar, Managing Director of Consumer and Network Access, Royal Mail said: “I am delighted we are able to give two UK schoolchildren the chance to design an official Royal Mail Christmas stamp. Previous designs have become iconic images and it will be a fantastic honour - and a prize that money cannot buy – for the two children chosen.”

The two winners will follow in the footsteps of highly acclaimed children’s’ designers and illustrators who have designed Christmas Stamps in the past, such as Nick Park (2010), Axel Scheffler (2012), Quentin Blake (1993) and Michael Foreman (1987).

Schools, and parents of home-schooled children, can sign-up to the competition online or by returning the application formin a pack sent to them by iChild, the online educational resource centre,  in association with Royal Mail. 

Applications for the 10,000 availableresource packs will be sent out on a first come first served basis and entries must be received by the closing date of 19^th July 2013.  

The winners of the competition will be announced in the autumnand the stamps will be available to buy from November 5^th 2013.

Royal Mail will select 120 regional runners up across the UK. They and their schools will each receive prizes of £100 for the school and £100 gift vouchers for the child.

From those 120 runners up, a shortlist of 24 finalists will be chosen. They and their schools will receive prizes of  £500 for the school and £500 of gift vouchers for the child.

From the finalists two winners will be chosen, one for the First Class Christmas stamp and once for the Second Class. They will also receive prizes of £1,000 for the school and £1,000 in vouchers for the child.