The results of the Summer 2023 FOVM Prize Schools’ Poetry Competition

This was a first for the Friends, launching a Prize Competition as a way of raising awareness of Valentines and hopefully to encourage even more people to join us. We are a small local charity, formed initially to fundraise, support and enhance the restoration of a much-neglected building. Now the restoration is complete and a wonderful historic building is there for us all to enjoy!

The public enjoying a summer music event organised by The Friends

We are constantly losing count of the number of times local visitors tell us that they didn’t realise the mansion existed and we know how much everyone seems to enjoy their visits on Open Days, for organised events or for Special Occasions. There is so much potential within and without the building, with so much history, heritage and culture to learn about.

Why not join the Friends? Membership is £8 a year.

Verses At Valentines July 9th

On July 9th we were thrilled to welcome so many visitors particularly in the afternoon for the announcement of the Friends of Valentines Mansion Prizewinners and names of children who wrote poems commended by the judges, in a packed Drawing Room. Prizes were awarded by Councillor Ahmed and one of our visiting authors, Jane Ulysses Grell.

Those who took part in the morning’s free poetry workshop for children thoroughly enjoyed it, writing their very own odes on the theme of nature as can be discovered in Valentines Park! The coots have become quite famous through our odes!

Jane led a very enjoyable and active oral workshop for everyone in the afternoon. We had lots of other activities and other poets reading their own poems or a favourite poem from the Big Red Chair! Tony Bowland (pictured below) led an inspirational reading and discussion of his poems (The Well at the Desert’s Heart) in the Gallery.

There were poems galore, including some by poets who have lived at Valentines, from the Ingleby family (Clement Ingleby) and even longer ago from the Raymond family (Charles Raymond’s daughter Sophia Burrell). And of course one of the favourite things to do at Valentines: Children’s Activities in the beautiful Victorian Kitchen, based around the theme of poetry with lots more poems to read and inspire.

Karen from the Wanstead Climate Action Group came along to teach us many things we didn’t know about bees, especially how to make a simple bee drinking bowl for our gardens to help pollinators survive dry spells in the summer and the Neighbourhood Team were there with information about adopting tree pits to beautify our own streets and create pollinator pathways across Redbridge!

Our Members’ September newsletter will publish the winning poem, but for now a little more information about the competition in case you missed it.

First Prize went to Aleeyah from Year 5 at Redbridge Primary School. Well done to all at Redbridge Primary as your school had the highest number of entries out of the seventeen schools that took part.

Second Prize went to Saifaan from Highlands Primary School and 3rd Prize to Millie from Fairlop Primary. Well done to all the other children who took part. We really enjoyed all your poems!

All children wrote poems inspired by the building

Calling Sara K!

We did receive one lovely poem submitted by a Year 4 Open Day visitor called Sara K. Sadly on the day prizes were awarded, she was not there and as no application form had been filled in, we had no way of knowing what school she went to or how to contact her parents. Sara seems to have simply written and left us a poem for the pure joy of writing a poem about Valentines Mansion! (We know how she feels!).

Here is Sara’s poem.