May 2024
Today, we launch the third annual Celebration Day competition. The competition is open to all 5 – 18 year olds (and their teachers!), challenging them to celebrate someone remarkable from the past with a written or recorded audio entry.
Entrants are encouraged to do their own research or interview older family members or friends to discover inspiring figures from the past. Entries don’t have to be about a famous individual — entries about family or friends are welcomed — but they must be about someone who has passed away. This year there is a new optional theme of ‘sporting heroes throughout history’.
The competition is in support of this year’s Celebration Day, taking place on Monday 27th May 2024. Celebration Day aims to encourage people to remember and celebrate the lives of those who are no longer here but continue to inspire us.
Winners will be picked across five age group categories alongside an additional teacher category. The competition is free to enter, and entries must be submitted by 5pm on Tuesday, May 14th 2024. Entries will be judged and winners awarded an iPad, as well as being celebrated by a special guest judge who will be filmed reading the winning entries aloud.
“I learnt lots about my great grandad and now many more people will know his great story and name. It felt good to educate people, in a nice way, on how hard it was to be a black person coming to England in the sixties, but how it could be positive too. It is so exciting to celebrate his amazing life with lots of people. I cannot believe I won!”
Liam Merchant, 2022 Age 11-13 winner
You can find our free resources pack – designed to save teachers and carers time while helping break down some of the barriers that might hold students back from entering – containing all of the details needed to participate, in an accessible format, on the Celebration Day writing competition page.
Richard Addis, Editor and Founder of The Day said: “Finding your voice is the key to a happy and successful life and this competition is a brilliant way to encourage this in young people. It involves such a rich array of skills: gathering knowledge from another person who has influenced us deeply, the skill of questioning and reflecting on that knowledge and processing it for yourself, and then the skill of communicating what you have learned and connecting to others. We want every child to find their voice. What better way to practice than to enter this Celebration Day competition!”