Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) launched a competition on Thursday 17 November for children to design the official PCH Christmas card for 2022.
Children sharpened their pencils and submitted their entries with the hope of winning the star prize, a brand-new iPad that would be delivered to their home in time for Christmas.
To help pick the winner, staff at PCH came together to vote for their favourite Christmas card and one design came out as a clear winner.
Joshua, age 11 submitted a design which featured Plymouth Hoe with Santa on a special Christmas boat in the Sound with families enjoying themselves on a cold winters’ day.
His creativity and impressive design led to Joshua getting the most votes, and as soon as the staff vote closed our Graphic Designer got to work to replicate his fantastic drawing to produce a card for staff to send to residents and partner organisations across the city.
Earlier this week staff from our Communications and Marketing team visited Joshua at his family home in Plymouth to present him with his prize, and a photo frame featuring his design and the final Christmas card.
Joshua was delighted to be the winner and was overwhelmed to have won such a wonderful prize before Christmas.
He said: “I can’t believe I have won. During our art lessons at school, we only really use paint, so I was able to get creative with the Christmas card and it took me ages to think of what I wanted to draw to make sure I got it right.
“When I went to the light switch on in Plymouth, I was inspired by Santa who was sat on a boat so I wanted to add this into my drawing.
“I didn’t really want anything for Christmas, but I have wanted an iPad for a long time but have never asked for it. I am having to do my online school work on a mobile phone at the moment as our computer is broken so it will be very helpful.”
The pure excitement shone through as our staff presented Joshua with his prize, and he was desperate to open his new piece of tech which he wanted to film to make a video for YouTube.
Jasmine, Joshua’s mother and PCH resident was touched to know that staff had voted for the Christmas card designed by her son and mentioned that creativity and artistry must run in the family, as a distant grandfather taught Queen Victoria many years ago.
Joshua’s family were very grateful that he had been selected to win an iPad and said that this has made his Christmas.
To find out about our competitions in 2023, follow us on social media or keep an eye on our Resident Newsletters.