We travelled around the UK to make sure our prize winners got their bikes and helmets before Christmas. With live updates on Twitter and Facebook, we kept everyone up to date on the visits and presentations. Enjoy and a merry Christmas to you all!
Two of our team, Steve Harrison and Alice Sanderson, took to the roads armed with prizes for our lucky competition winners last week.
First4Lawyers held a Cycle Safety competition asking junior school children to submit their best helmet design for the chance to win a brand-new bike and their helmet created.
Entries flooded in and the judges had a really tough job narrowing down over 4,500 entries, to eight winning designs.
Our eight winners (a boy and a girl from year groups 3, 4, 5 and 6) were spread across the country, [from Leeds to xxxx] so we had a long journey ahead of us as we set out to deliver a brand new bike to each of the winners, as well as a cycling helmet with their winning designs on them.
Bear with us!
The journey began with an early start from our office in Huddersfield, to make sure we reached our first school in Slough by lunchtime.
Our First4Lawyers mascot bear decided to join us to help document all the stops and make sure things went smoothly.
Double winners at Godolphin!
Our first stop was The Godolphin Junior Academy in Slough, where there was not one, but two lucky winners: Year 5 students, Ana and Ameera .
The presentation was a wonderful surprise for both girls,as their teachers had kept it a closely guarded secret until our arrival.
Ana was in the middle of rehearsing for her school play and couldn’t quite believe her eyes! While Ameera was equally delighted as the win will give her the opportunity to learn how to ride a bike for the first time.
Teacher, George Graham, said: ”As you can see from the reaction of the pupils, this is a great opportunity for them. Some of them, like Ameera, have never owned a bike or learnt to ride so it’s great for them to have this as a prize.
“As a school we are also thrilled that we were able to produce two winners when there were so many applicants. Well done to Ana and Ameera.”
From Slough to Surrey – stop number 2
From Slough we drove to Manorcroft Primary in Egham, to present Hawon from Year 4 with her prizes. We were surprise guests in the school assembly, so Hawon got her new bike and helmet in front of all her friends, her mum and her teachers.
Although a little shy about her win, Hawon was thrilled to see her helmet design come to life.
Day 2 in Dorset
After a refreshing night’s sleep in Poole, we arrived bright and early at the Lighthouse Theatre in Poole to present Year 4 student, Mikolaj from Oakdale Primary School with his prizes, just before he and his class watched a production of Dick Whittington.
Mikolaj’s proud parents told us: “As a keen cyclist Mikolaj already has a road bike and a mountain bike, so when we saw that the prize was a BMX we were thrilled for him.
“He cycles about 5km each way to school - that’s around 250km a month, so he will love having another bike to do this with.
“We did try to keep it a secret from him, but he managed to find out anyway. Although we think he forgot that it was today, so we hope that there is still an element of surprise.”
Mikolaj was absolutely delighted with the new addition to his bike collection, and his helmet with a camera to try out.
We left Mikolaj and the rest of his class to enjoy Dick Whittington, and headed up to Oxford to the tiny village of Combe, navigating our large van through the narrow country roads.
On to Oxford
Combe C of E Primary School was the smallest school of our trip, with only 115 pupils, so it wasn’t hard to find our next winner, Patrick, amongst them.
Patrick had designed a helmet based around road safety signs, very fitting with the safety theme of the competition.
We presented him with his prize alongside acting headteacher, Julia Hamper, who said: ”I think Patrick created an excellent design and he’s clearly a young man who is very aware of cycle safety. We are really happy for him. Well deserved.”
Next stop Northampton
Our third and final stop of day 2 was to The Good Shepherd Primary Catholic Primary School in Northampton.
We surprised Year 5 winner Andrew with his bike in the middle of a music and drama class. He was completely unaware that he had won and his surprised expression was a sight to behold.
His classmates were very excited by the bike – in fact one of them even tried to claim the design as their own so they could win instead!
As it was the end of the school day we were invited into the school for a very welcome cup of tea and a chat with the headteacher and the assistant head, while the hubbub died down. What a nice ending to Day 2.
Then it was off to Nottingham, ready for the last day of our road trip.
Frosty final day
The final day of the trip was an icy start at -1oc, but once we’d warmed up we set off to our first school.
As with our previous Year 6 winner, the winning design from Charlotte at Seely Primary and Nursery School was also based on street signs. Seely Primary was a big contrast to Combe from the day before, as it was probably the biggest school we visited, with over 500 pupils.
We presented Charlotte with her new bike and helmet in front of all her classmates. She was very proud to win, saying: “I was very excited about this competition because I knew I had very good art skills. I wasn’t sure how many people entered so I didn’t know how much of a chance I had and now I know there were so many entries I’m really proud that I won.”
Last stop Sharp Lane, Leeds
The last stop on our journey was Sharp Lane Primary School in Leeds. We arrived just before lunch, to present Year 3 student Danny Elliott with his prizes.
Danny was very surprised with his win, and was delighted to show off his new bike and helmet to his classmates. He couldn’t quite believe his luck! Although we know it was more down to skill than luck, as the puzzle design of his helmet really impressed the judges.
And a Merry Christmas!
We really enjoyed our first road trip and loved being there to see the faces of our lucky winners.
A very merry Christmas to all those involved in making this such a great success, and we very much hope to do the same again next year.
