The winners have been chosen and now their poems have been published on-line! For more information about the competition, see the Results page. You can read all of the prize-winning entries on the All Winning Entries page. Thank you to everyone who entered and to Ron Butlin for judging. Congratulations to the following winners:

Thanks to those of you who entered our poetry competition. We had 26 entries altogether and these are now winging their way to our judge Ron Butlin. We will be announcing the winners in December. Good luck!

Did you manage to come up with a poem about ‘Stars’ over the school holidays? We only have a couple of poems in so far and would love it if you can support us by sending in your entries via the Contact Us form. The judge, Ron Butlin (Edinburgh Makar – poet laureate), is looking forward to reading your compositions.

How to Enter:

• Age groups: 5-8 years, 9-12 years, 13-18 years.
• Format: Maximum 25 lines on the theme ‘Stars’. All poems must include a title.
• Include your Name, Address, Age and Contact Email Address with your entry.
• Send in your entry using the ‘Contact Us‘ form.
• Handwritten entries will be accepted from younger entrants (deliver to the post box at The Rowans, Garvald). These entries will not be returned, so please keep a copy. Please note that we would prefer entries are made via the website. On handwritten entries, please put your name and contact information on the back of the poem, to ensure that judging is anonymous.

For more information on the competition including the prizes and links to poetry websites to help you with your writing, see the Poetry Competition page.

A welcome visitor to the garden…

There’s a lot of visitors to the bird feeders now that Autumn has arrived with some cooler temperatures. If you spot anything worthy of a mention, then let us know using the Contact Us form.

The winner of our recent Prize Draw for subscribers to our Email updates service is Mike Traynor. He has won £30 of garden centre vouchers, funded by the Garvald and Morham Community Council. Mike came across the website during a general web search and was pleased to read all the latest village news, having spent much time in Garvald with family and friends over the years. He has particularly enjoying looking through the Jubilee Party photos and reading about recent events in the village.

The Prize Draw has encouraged even more people to sign up and we now have over 45 subscribers to our free Email updates service. This has doubled our readership and covers a large proportion of local residents. The Garvald Web Team members are really pleased that so many of you have signed up to keep up-to-date with the latest news. Thank you for your support.

These wonderful clear, but admittedly cold, autumn nights are perfect for stargazing – and garnering inspiration for our Poetry Competition, which is on the theme of stars. Has anyone donned coat, hat and scarf and been out yet?

You’ve still over a month to put pen to paper, and submit your finished composition. The judge is the renowned Edinburgh Makar, Ron Butlin. And thanks to GMCC and the Scottish Poetry Library, there are some fabulous prizes. For more information, please see our competition pages. Good luck!

Why not enter our children’s Poetry Competition to celebrate National Poetry Day, by sending in your poem on the subject “Stars”? Please read through the full competition rules and instructions before sending in your entry. These are now available on the Poetry Competition webpage, which also contains links to on-line resources to help you with your writing.

Winning entries will be published here at www.garvald.org.uk. Winning authors will also receive book tokens and poetry anthologies as prizes and there will be goodies for runners up including badges and postcards. The closing date is 31st October 2012.

Good luck!

To celebrate National Poetry Day 2012, we’re hosting a poetry competition – woohoo! Youngsters are encouraged to compose a poem on the subject “stars.” Each composition must be a maximum of 25 lines long, and have a title. Entries will be judged by Ron Butlin, the Edinburgh Makar. There will be three categories – 5-8, 9-12 and teenagers – and judging will be done anonymously. The three triumphant pieces will be published here at www.garvald.org.uk. Winning authors will also receive book tokens and anthologies as prizes, and there will be goodies for runners up including badges and postcards.

It is easy to enter. Either e-mail us your poem or use the contact us page. All entries must be accompanied with the following information: name; age; and snail- and e-mail address. Handwritten entries will also be accepted from younger entrants. Please pop them in the postbox at The Rowans in Garvald, but remember to put contact details on the reverse. The closing date is 31st October 2012. The winners will be announced in early December, and prizes presented thereafter. For full details of the competition, click here. Good luck!

A reminder about the Website Prize Draw…
Sign up for free website ‘Email Updates’ to enter the Prize Draw. It’s a great way to keep informed of Garvald village news without having to check the website regularly.

How to sign up:
Click here to receive garvald.org.uk updates via email and enter the prize draw.
On the sign-up page, enter your email address to receive an activation email. This will contain a link to click to start the ’email updates’ service and enter the prize draw.

The winner will be picked from the list of all active subscribers at the end of August.
Good luck!