Pupils' show artistic side as Express & Star Design an Ad competition

Primary school pupils descended on the Mount Hotel, in Tettenhall Wood, Wolverhampton, last night accompanied by proud parents and teachers.

The event honoured more than 30 youngsters who managed to bag prizes for their schools by designing adverts for local firms, authorities and attractions.

Each school was paired with a different company or authority that pupils were told to create their own advertisement for.

This year's competition attracted hundreds of entries. Bosses from the organisations picked a favourite design and the lucky winners each won a framed copy of their advert, a certificate, a £50 cheque for their school and a Waterstones voucher.

It was then up to readers to pick an overall winner by browsing 33 designs, with the top pupil winning a £500 reward for their school.

The overall winner was William Burrows, aged eight, from St Bartholomew's Primary in Penn, who created an advert for Wolverhampton police.

His design showed the head of a policeman with his arms around a group of children and the slogan 'Talk to the police – they can help'.

The delighted youngster, of Enderby Drive, Penn, said: "I feel lucky. Children feel comfortable if they have an arm around them so I had the idea of having a policeman with his arms around all the children to keep them safe. It took me about an hour or two. I drew the outline in pencil and used felt tip pens."

His mother Joanne, aged 44, said: "I'm so proud of him. I know he had worked hard. He was looking forward to this for a long time."

Also picking up a prize for designing an advertisement for St George's Veterinary Group was nine-year-old Ben Holyhead, of Featherstone. He drew talking animals with a slogan saying 'For ruff feeling pets'.

The Whitgreave Primary School pupil said: "I feel really amazed. I was really excited when I found out that I had won.

"I thought about the certain animals that would go there and what they would say."

His mother Jackie, aged 38, said: "It's amazing what he's done. He did a lovely picture and it was his play on words which I liked."

Ben's teacher Richard Bradbury, from Whitgreave Primary School, said the school was delighted with Ben's achievement.

"We will make sure we celebrate it with Ben, the other children and staff," he added.

Amy Colquhoun, aged 11, of Spring Lane, Erdington, showed that she was at the top of her class with her winning advertisement for Jaffray Care Group. Her design included a picture of people sat in a cinema with headphones to help them hear the film.

"I'm happy and so proud," she said after collecting her framed design and prize.

Her mother Teresa, aged 37, said she was extremely proud. She said: "It's fabulous. It's lovely that she has got a nice award. It is a nice donation to the school as well."

Bosses from independent financial advisory company PIA Wealth Management chose 10-year-old Zayn Nurmamade as their winner.

The former pupil of Dunstall Hill Primary School in Wolverhampton, who recently moved to Leicester with his family, designed an advertisement which included a piggy bank with the slogan 'Don't be slow. Let your money grow'.

The youngster, formerly of Dalton Street, Merridale, Wolverhampton, said: "They were talking about money so I thought about saving money. It's like when you put money in a piggy bank." His father Mahomede, aged 32, added: "I'm really proud. Just the look in his eyes and to see him get the award was fantastic. He's been excited ever since they told him he had won." Marketing manager for PIA Wealth Management Richard Bourne said Zayn had been chosen as a worthy winner.

"This is the first time we have been involved in this competition," he said. We wanted to get involved with the younger community and this was the ideal opportunity to engage with a school near us."

Iain Watkins, marketing manager for Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, was also at the event last night.

Theatre bosses chose six-year-old Bryoni Barker as their winner and the Perry Hall Primary School pupil was the youngest to pick up an award. She drew a picture showing the touring production of Grandpa in My Pocket which came to the theatre last month. The stage show included pirates which was depicted in the design. Bosses were impressed with the colourful and imaginative design.

Mr Watkins said: "We have taken part for a number of years. It is always a great way to engage with kids who in some cases may not have even visited the theatre before.

"We do have lots of productions aimed at younger audiences. This was an exciting way for them to think about the theatre. There were some fantastic designs.

"It is always very difficult to chose the final winner. Everyone in the team looks at all the entries very rigorously and they vote for them.

"This year we liked the winner's advert because it was a clear, bright and a fun image which was representative of the show that was coming to the theatre. As a result of this the cast of the show went to visit the school."

An advert for All Electric Garages by seven-year-old Fairhaven Primary School pupil Beth James drove her to the winner's spot.

John Wheeldon Primary School pupil Iffan Hornby, aged nine, proved to be the top designer for Stafford Railway Building Society's advertisement and eight-year-old Abigail Hicken won the top honour at her school, Busill Jones Primary in Bloxwich, for designing an advertisement for Caremark.

Halesowen C of E Primary youngster Caitlin Cowdell, aged 11, had the winning design for Wing Yip, a major Chinese and Oriental supplier, and West Midland Safari and Leisure Park chose nine-year-old Joey Mayley's design for top prize.

The St Anne's Primary School pupil drew animals including an elephant, giraffe and lion with the slogan 'Drive thru on the wild side'.

Express & Star advertisement manager Kim Hazel said standards had been set high this year and thanked all the organisations who had shown their support, adding: "The biggest thank you goes to the young people who have actually designed the stunning advertisements you would have seen in the newspaper."

Express & Star deputy editor Diane Davies added: "It is in truth a real pleasure for me to come along today and meet the children who have put together these wonderful pieces of art.

"I have been so impressed by the amount of talent shown here by pupils of such a young age, one of our winners is only six.

"We at the Express & Star have a particular interest in nurturing the young talents of the future. What all of these fantastic adverts do is convey a message, using both words and pictures in an original and compelling way." She added: "The competition was very fierce with schoolchildren from across Staffordshire and the Black Country picking up their pens, crayons and paints to come up with some pretty ground-breaking ideas. Many of the firms and organisations the ads represent said how difficult it was to pick a winner."

Also in the limelight were 10-year-old Sam Stafford, of Moat Farm Junior School; Shireland Hall Primary pupil Arzoo Ashfaq, 11; Edward The Elder Primary pupil Ryan Cotterill, 10; Amelia Humphries, eight, from St John's CE Primary School, Swindon; Birches First School pupil Harry Moran, nine; Lily Smith, nine, from Little Sutton Primary School; Sophie Thomas, 11, from Peter's Hill Primary and Villiers Primary pupil Sarika Beli, nine.

Other winners included Natalie Westley, 10, from Leamore Primary; Louis Bent, nine, from Blakedown C of E Primary; Harjot Dhillon, 11, from Goldthorn Primary; Kai Oakley, nine, of Holyhead Primary; Louie Clark, 10, of Wood End Primary in Wednesfield; Harbibah Shah, 10, from Bearwood Primary; Rakegate Primary pupil Warren Fisher, 10; Tanvir Rana, 11, of Newbridge Preparatory School; 11-year-old Katie Martin, from Bridgtown Primary; Amia Ajimal, 10, of Manor Primary in Coseley; Jake Bedworth, 10, of Kingston Centre Primary; Jade Maycock, 10, of St John Bosco Catholic Primary; Jon Waistell, 10, of St Bernadette's Primary and Tilly Mae Rhodes, nine, of St Mark's Primary.

Other organisations which took part included Ideal for All, West Midlands Police, Birmingham Dogs Home, the Black Country Living Museum, South Staffordshire Council, Spire Little Aston Hospital, Mercedes-Benz in Stourbridge, Wolverhampton Speedway, Walsall Manor Hospital, Barratt Homes, Keepmoat, Queens Square, Wolverhampton Homes, Sandwell PCT, First 4 Teachers, Redrow, APC Overnight, NES, Clarkwood Engineering, Paul Dubberley, Carillion and Yale.