Three Hyndburn youngsters are sending extra special festive greetings this year, as the winners in an Accrington Market competition to design a Christmas card.

The annual Christmas card competition attracted hundreds of entries from creative kids at primary schools and nurseries from Accrington and beyond.

The Mayor of Hyndburn, Councillor Tim O’Kane, and his Mayoress, Mrs Melanie Storey, had a tough time judging the entries as the standard was exceptionally high.

After much deliberation they selected 10 year old Paris Hawke’s festive depiction of Accrington Market Hall as their winner. Paris wins 50 cards printed with her design plus £50 and a sweetie hamper.

The two runners-up are three year old Freddie Holland whose cute Santa drawing put the Mayor and Mayoress in a full-on festive mood. And seven year old Jack Read’s picture of Santa stuck in a chimney certainly put smiles on their faces! Freddie and Jack each win 10 cards printed with their designs plus a sweetie hamper.

The Mayor of Hyndburn said:

“There were some innovative designs and it was extremely challenging to choose a winner. I was really impressed to see the massive effort all the schools put into their entries. We had over 200 entries – a terrific response.

“Entering the competition also gave local families an extra reason to come into the market hall in the run-up to Christmas.”

The Mayor and Mayoress presented the winner and runners-up with their prizes in Accrington Market Hall on Saturday 10 December.

Winner Paris Hawke from Ferngore comment on her card design:

“I was inspired to do the market hall. I wanted to learn about it so I did some research on the history of it first.”

Runner-up Freddie Holland from Accrington enjoyed making his card. He said:

“It was good so I came second.”

And runner-up Jack Read from Altham commented:

“It was fun and my design is all about Christmas.”

A display of the hundreds of Christmas card competition entries is brightening up Accrington Market Hall. Take a look as you head down to stock up on Christmas essentials – market traders have everything for the festive season, from greetings cards to sprouts and the turkey itself!

Accrington Market Hall is open from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, with the exception of Wednesday when it closes at 1.30pm.

To find out more about what’s on offer in Accrington Market Hall, call 01254 233816.