Emma Wins Prize!

Having selected the winner of our summer holiday competition, George Plumptre and Michaela Strachan made their way to Ash Vale to present the prize, as George describes

The most difficult thing about running a competition is choosing a winner and when we got to that stage with our summer holiday competition we had a really hard decision to make.

It was great to see how many different pictures of George our entrants liked, the variety of garden animals, flowers, birds and bugs you all knew - and drew, quite beautifully - and to see the jobs you wanted George to come and help with in your own gardens.

In the end our winner, 8-year-old Emma Carson, from Farnborough produced what we thought was a fantastic combination and this is what won her first prize. So, a couple of weeks ago, I set off with Michaela Strachan, clutching the first prize cheque of £100 and framed certificate, to Emma's school, Holly Lodge Primary School in Ash Vale, near Aldershot.

We had a superb reception from Emma, her family, Mrs Norman the headmistress and only about 200 of Emma's friends at the school. When we asked how many people knew Michaela from The Really Wild Show we got a full show of hands and she answered loads of questions about her favourite animals and exciting experiences filming around the world.

Then it was time for a session with the photographers before we had to leap in the car and drive back to London, after Emma and her friends had assured us that they would ALL enter the competition again next year.

Runners up prizes will be sent out shortly, and are selected from a range of books and interactive CD-roms by the publishers of fantastic non-fiction, Dorling Kindersley.

Articles reprinted with premission from Greenfingers.com