Pollinator Project announces schools' art competition winners as entries reach 10,000 milestone
- Samuel Bouwer Smith from Castel school wins first prize in Pollinator Project's annual schools art competition for second time
- Competition receives 10,000th entry since launch, with special prize awarded to Isla Aylward from St Anne's school in Alderney for most realistic solitary bee
- More than 1,300 entries received from pre-schools and primary schools across Bailiwick in competition's eighth year
- Category prizes awarded to Daisy Lower, Lewis Pengelley and Sophie Renouf, with Juno Bamford and Arthur Carré taking second and third places
- All entries on display at Guille-Allès library until end of July, with Rothschild & Co sponsoring competition for second year
The Pollinator Project has announced the winners of its annual schools art competition, with Samuel Bouwer Smith from Castel school taking first prize for the second time.
Juno Bamford from St Martins and Arthur Carré from Vale secured second and third places respectively. Category prizes were awarded to Daisy Lower, Sophie Renouf and Lewis Pengelley.
Sharon Hickman from the Pollinator Project praised the quality of this year's entries. "Their creativity has been fantastic, they have amazed us with their use of colour, natural materials and collage. We love the sense of fun too, just look at the eyes on Lewis's entry," she said.
The competition, which focuses on different groups of pollinating insects each year, featured solitary bees this year. More than 80 species of solitary bee live in Guernsey, including the violet winged mining bee, wool carder bee and red mason bee.
Ms Hickman explained the process: "Every year we visit every primary school, do a special assembly and hand out competition entries. After that it's down to the children, the schools, and parents to find inspiration, to get involved and to meet the deadline!"
This year marked a significant milestone, with the competition receiving its 10,000th entry since launch. To celebrate, the Pollinator Project introduced a special prize for the most realistic entry.
"To celebrate the 10,000th entry since we launched the competition we decided we would pick out the most realistic entry, the one that most closely copied a real solitary bee. It was really tough and we had to whittle down the entries and check with the best experts on the island. The answer was unanimous in the end and we picked the bee created by Isla Aylward from St Anne's school in Alderney," said Ms Hickman.
She added: "Congratulations to all of our winners and well done to everyone who took part. A special mention must go to Samuel as well. This isn't the first time he's won in our competition. There is a budding artist there at Castel school."
Daisy Lower from Monkey Puzzle-King's won the pre-schools prize, whilst Lewis Pengelley from Le Rondin secured the SEN prize. Sophie Renouf from Mare de Carteret won the Wells prize, named in honour of Barry Wells who co-founded the Pollinator Project in 2017.
Linda Boucher-Harris from sponsor Rothschild & Co emphasised the importance of connecting children with nature. "Connecting children with nature like this is so important. It's lovely that in this digital age we can support a programme that is such fun and relies on practical and creative skills," she said.
"This is the 2nd year we have been involved in supporting the Pollinator Project with its flagship programme and we are delighted to be part of it," she added.
Ms Boucher-Harris described the prize-giving ceremony as very special. "It's not just the prizes for the winners and their schools, and t-shirts printed with their winning entry, it's the excitement, the proud parents and grandparents, everyone plays their part. We are very happy to get involved and enjoyed it immensely too."
Jayne Wells, whose late husband Barry co-founded the charity, spoke about the competition's significance. "As a family we love continuing this connection with the Pollinator Project," she said. "It's amazing to see all the entries hanging in the Guille-Allès library and we know that Barry, who co founded the Pollinator Project back in 2017, would have been delighted. The art competition was very dear to his heart, for him it combined art, science and education. That's what the Pollinator Project is all about. We picked the entry from Sophie Renouf because it best represented those different elements. It's been very carefully thought through and put together."
All entries are on display at the Guille-Allès library until the end of July.
Now in its eighth year, the competition is open to all children in pre-schools and primary schools across the Bailiwick. Each year more than 1,300 entries are received. Every entrant receives a free packet of seeds to grow pollinator friendly flowers.
The Pollinator Project is a registered Guernsey charity that aims to protect the Bailiwick's pollinators, which are vital for pollinating food crops, gardens and wildflowers. The team runs science projects, works with non-governmental organisations and government, and provides advice and practical assistance to schools, individuals and businesses looking to create pollinator patches across Guernsey.
Q&A
Q: Who won first prize in the Pollinator Project schools art competition?
A: Samuel Bouwer Smith from Castel school won first prize. This is the second time he has won the competition.
Q: How many entries has the competition received since it launched?
A: The competition has received 10,000 entries since it launched. To celebrate this milestone, a special prize was awarded to Isla Aylward from St Anne's school in Alderney for the most realistic entry.
Q: Where can people see the competition entries?
A: All entries are on display at the Guille-Allès library until the end of July. More than 1,300 entries were received this year from pre-schools and primary schools across the Bailiwick.
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