Following on from another successful Creative Writing and Visual Arts Competition to mark Black History Month, the winning entries and schools were invited to an awards ceremony at the Hotel Victoria last Friday.

The competition, organised by Lowestoft Town Council, encourages local schools and their students to think about the inspiring people of Black and Ethnic Minority heritage - past and present.

This year’s competition saw entries celebrating the likes of Bukayo Saka, Mae Jemison, Mary Seacole and Usain Bolt with entries coming in the forms of diary entries, fact sheets and raps in the creative writing competition, and African hand art and pointillism in the visual arts competition.  For 2024, the age categories were expanded so that submissions could be judged more fairly against similar work.

In the overall school competition, the Creative Writing Category was won by Oulton Broad Primary due to the high quality and variety of entries that they submitted.  For the second year in the row, Phoenix St Peter’s Primary School was awarded the Visual Arts Award thanks to their colourful whole school display.

The individual award winners were:

Creative Writing – Year 5-6

Winner – Matilda (for her rap about Rosa Parks)

Runners-Up – George and Edward (who both wrote about Bukayo Saka)

Creative Writing - Year 10-11

Winner – Samuel (who wrote a lovely reflection on how brave Mary Seacole was)

Runner -Up – Sophie (for her beautifully written piece about Mary Seacole)

Visual Arts – Nursery-Reception

Winner – Lena (for her drawing of a bus, depicting the story of Rosa Parks)

Visual Arts – Year 1-2

Winner – Harry (for the use of vibrant colours and shapes)

Runners-Up – Billie and Jashwika (for their use of different patterns)

Visual Arts – Year 3-4

Winner – Pippa (for her use of intricate details)

Runners-Up – Ethan (for his use of colour) and Jessica (for her use of different mediums to depict Mae Jemison)

Visual Arts – 5-6

Winner – Ozzie (for the use of delicate details and patterns)

Runners-Up – Yvie and Maisie (for their use of different mediums to portray Kamala Harris and Lewis Hamilton)

The awards ceremony also included a video message from Lowestoft’s Olympic Medallist Anthony Ogogo who shared his personal story of growing up in Lowestoft as someone with Black and Mixed Race Heritage, and a series of poems and short stories form the author Ivya Scott who also works with the Suffolk Windrush Community.

Speaking at the awards, Cllr Nasima Begum, Mayor of Lowestoft, said “Once again, we have been amazed by the number and quality of the artwork and creative writing that has been submitted.  This competition is now in its fourth year, and I am proud to see that it keeps growing with more variety of entries.”