Year 6 has an award-winning writing in its numbers this year.  Katie's submission to the Rotary Club's 'Young Writer 2019 ' competition not only won as the local entry, it also won the regional competition (Cumbria and Lancashire) and then went on to be 'highly commended' in the national competition, where it was judged into fourth place.  What an incredible achievement!

Children were asked to write about someone or something that was 'an inspiration' to them.  You can read Katie's moving tribute to Margaret, her inspirational neighbour, below.

My Inspiration

My next door neighbour, Margaret, is my inspiration because of all the hard work she does.

Eleven months ago, sadly, her husband past away with cancer. Even though she was really upset, she never gave up and still had a smile on her face. Also last year somebody in our village had to go to hospital. She is still there now and Margaret goes and visits her and helps her to speak; she reads to her and shows her photos. She looked after Annie’s dog. He was very timid and had a lot of problems.

Every summer the trustees of the village hall run a cafe each week on a Sunday. Margaret does the cooking. She always helps out at all our village hall occasions. Despite how many hours it goes on for, she always carries on and has some fun on the way.  When people on holiday, she waters their plants and if they have any animals, she will look after them. She is also in the WI group. That includes charity work and art classes at various places. When somebody needs to go somewhere, she will always give them a lift- even if she gets back really late at night.  Margaret draws pictures and cards for other people. Her artwork is amazing. Her family loved art as well. Her mum used to like helping her with her art homework.  Margaret collects stamps for charity. There is a badminton class at the village hall that she goes to so she teaches people when it is their first time there and does warm-ups as well.  Margaret used to be a first-responder. Even though she is not a responder now, she is always round at people’s houses when they need help. Her next door neighbour is good friends with her so every week on a Tuesday they cook for each other. One week Karen cooks, the next week it is Margaret’s turn.

Because of what Margaret has done, she has inspired me to do things for the community. I bake cakes and put them in the bus shelter to raise funds for charity. I hope I can follow the wonderful example she has set.