Flynn Gillies, aged 10, from Edinburgh and Vedantika Chakraborty, aged seven, from Croydon, have won the regional prizes for our annual school carbon monoxide safety competition.
Organised by the UK’s four gas distribution networks and supported by the Energy Networks Association, the competition calls for budding artists aged five to 11 to help raise awareness of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
We received some fantastic entries in this year’s competition from school children across our Scottish and southern England network area. Entries ranged from videos, posters, cartoons and poems, all designed to warn of the dangers of the silent killer. This week, both of our winners were presented with a certificate along with their prizes.
Vedantika, who attends Rockmount Primary School in Croydon, created a powerful and informative and powerful poem highlighting the dangers and symptoms of CO poisoning, to win the regional award for students aged five to seven. Being a regional winner, she won £150 for herself and £300 for her school.
Vedantika with her award
Flynn attends Cramond Primary School in Edinburgh and trumped the rest of the competition to win both the regional and national award for students aged eight to eleven with his colourful poster advising families on how to stay safe from CO at home.
Flynn's winning poster
As Flynn also won the UK national prize, he was awarded £300 to enjoy himself and £600 for Cramond Primary School. When presented with his award, Flynn told us:
“My papa told me about a family who all died from CO poisoning. A bird’s nest was blocking their chimney and they died from the fumes. I wanted to include this in my poster design. Doing the competition, I learned all about CO and the dangers that come with it.
“When I found out I had won the competition I was so excited and absolutely delighted to win so much money.
“My teacher was so thrilled to find out I had won. I am going to decide with her and my classmates how to spend the huge sum of money to help improve our school. I have come up with lots of ideas.
‘During Gas Safety Week, our school is going to make large copies of my poster to help the other children learn about and spread the word about the dangers of CO.”
Flynn with his award
Our Social Impact Project Lead Dan Edwards, said: “Along with the other gas network companies, we were impressed by creative entries that were submitted to this year’s competition and we hope that the process involved has helped the students recognise the potential dangers of CO.
“CO has no smell, taste or colour and lives are lost every year because of CO poisoning. It’s through awareness initiatives like this competition that safety messages such as getting gas appliances safety checked every year by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the need for an audible CO alarm can reach more people across Great Britain and save lives.”
To be in with a chance of winning next year’s competition, click here for all the information you need.