St Olcans pupil is runner-up in letter contest

AINE McFetridge from St Olcans Primary School, Armoy has been awarded a runner-up prize in a letter writing competition run by Royal Mail beating off stiff competition from pupils at schools throughout Northern Ireland.

Young people were asked to write to their 1st Class Hero and Aine, aged 10, wrote to her hero Nelson Mandela. Aine says in her letter that he most amazing thing about Nelson Mandela is “when you were trying to stop segregation you knew there would be consequences but you still did it for your people. I know you are completely against racism and so am I. I believe as well as you that black people should have the same rights as white people. I know you must be a kind and generous man as you shared your Nobel Peace Prize with President de Klerk.”

Judges were impressed by the standard of entries and had a difficult task picking the winners in each of three categories.

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Sammy Graham, Royal Mail Delivery Office Manager in Ballymoney, who visited Aine’s school on Thursday to present her prize said: "It is obvious from her letter that Nelson Mandela has had a big impact on her life and thoughts.

“Her letter is very neat with clear handwriting and is presented beautifully. She is a very deserving winner of this prize”.

The competition encouraged children to write a letter with a purpose to their hero or heroine, demonstrating imagination and creativity within a basic letter format.

Hundreds of children from schools throughout Northern Ireland entered the competition writing some inspired letters to their first class heroes which included cartoon characters, family members, authors, TV and sports stars and even pets.