I am once again very pleased to announce that I’ve been holding a constituency competition to design my annual Christmas Card for 2023. I invited students from schools across Erith and Thamesmead to take part.

The theme for this year was: ‘What Makes Me Happy in Erith and Thamesmead’. I would like to thank all the pupils who drew and painted a design that showed what they love about places in our constituency. This included the parks or open spaces, local communities, shops, landmarks, animals or even family and friends.

The artwork was assessed by a panel of judges, and the winning design has been used as my Christmas Card and sent to more than 1,000 local people, businesses, and community groups. 

We had a brilliant turnout for this competition with so many excellent designs being sent in. I’d also like to say a massive thank you to all the schools, teachers and parents who helped organise the competition.

Attached is a photo of me meeting with the Speaker of the House to showcase the winning design, he was very impressed by the competition and has put the winning design on display!

Congratulations to this year’s winner, Mija Liumpa, aged 10, from Parkway Primary School. You can see Mija and myself below with her winning design.

To complement the design, Mija wrote a few words:

“I chose to draw this as it reminds me of nature and the mulberry tree of Abbey Wood ruins. It is an amazing place which calms me, and I can meet many dogs there which is also why I chose to draw them. It is one of my favourite places of calmness and my favourite place in Erith.”

It was great to visit the students of Parkway Primary School in person this week, and hand Mija her well-deserved prize as overall winner of the competition.

Thanks also to the local co-sponsors who kindly supported part of this year’s competition – Co-op Belvedere and Manak Solicitors.

Congratulations again to Mija and I wish a Merry Christmas to all.

This year, I’ve been holding a constituency competition to design my Christmas Card for 2021. I invited students from schools across Erith and Thamesmead to take part and I was so pleased to see such a positive response.

The theme for this year is: ‘Love Erith and Thamesmead: portraits of local landmarks.’ I asked pupils to draw or paint somewhere special to them and our local community.

I want to thank all the pupils who made submissions. These included drawings of the Thamesmead Clock Tower, Crossness Pumping Station, the walks along the River Thames, and Erith Pier.

After being assessed by a panel of judges, the winning design was used as my Christmas Card and sent to more than 1,000 local people, businesses, and community groups. 

We had a great turnout for the competition with so many excellent designs being sent in. I’d also like to say a massive thank you to all the schools, teachers and parents who helped organise the competition.

Congratulations to this year’s winner, Alexandra Okwara, aged 10, from St Fidelis Catholic Primary School.

Writing about why she chose her design, Alexandra wrote:

“I have drawn the fish roundabout (The de Luci Landmark Gateway sculpture) because the roundabout shows me that I am in Erith and that the fish are very important to the local community.”

Inside the card, I wrote a bit about how challenging the last year has been and sent my best to all as we go into 2022.

Thank you also to Greenwich GMB Branch and Greenwich Union Local Government Branch for their kind contributions to the cost of this card.