Winner of toy design competition 6-11 category announced

Posted 30/06/15

"Dr Ellie" was yesterday (Tuesday 30 June) announced as the winning entry for the 6-11 category in a national toy design competition at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute's Conference in Bournemouth.

The brainchild of Jessica Walker-Selfe, 11, and Georgia Wright, 10, from Minster C of E Primary School impressed the judges of the annual Playsafe competition with its clever creativity and safety features, beating off competition from more than 250 entries from across the UK. 

CTSI's chief executive Leon Livermore said: “Every year I enjoy seeing the fantastic fruits of children's imagination as they dream up a toy for Playsafe – I'm so impressed with the creativity that we see and the level of attention to detail. 

"This competition is a great way to engage children and young people in a fun way while making them aware of what to look out for in terms of safety and we are grateful for the support we have received from the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) for more than 20 years in making this competition happen.”

BTHA's Director of Communications Natasha Crookes said: "There were some amazingly creative entries this year and the judging panel had a hard time picking out the winners from a very strong field. We all thought the ideas were some of the most imaginative, and importantly fun, ideas for toys we had seen for a while.

"The overall winner "Go! George the Giggling Giraffe" won the overall vote for the amazing research and artwork of the entry. We could imagine this toy on the toy shelves this Christmas." 

"Sea Shore Manner" created by Bethany Newton, 9, from Painters Ash Primary, Norfleet Kent came in a close second in the 6 – 11 category.

 

 

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Notes for Editors:

• Winner of the 6-11 category: "Dr Ellie" by Jessica Walker-Selfe, 11, and Georgia Wright, 10 from Minster C of E Primary School.
• Runner up of the 6-11 category: "Sea Shore Manner" by Bethany Newton, 11, from Painters Ash Primary, Northfleet Kent.
• Highly commended for both categories: "Trampoline Bubble Machine" by Katie Wise, 9, from Painters Ash Primary, Northfleet Kent. 
• Winner of 12-17 category and overall winner: "Go! George the giggling Giraffe" by Sophie Lazenby, 14, from The Hayfield School, Doncaster.
• Runner up of 12-17 category: "Spaceman Simon" by James Hall, 15, from Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Kent.
• Special needs schools category: 1st place awarded to "Ultra Tech Ted 2020" by Jack Williams, 14, from Laleham Gap School.
• Special needs schools category: Highly commended awarded "Flying Zebra" by Lewis Davies, 14 from Laleham Gap School.

The Playsafe award was created more than 20 years ago by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) and the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) to encourage a greater awareness of safety features in toy design. It is part of CTSI’s Young Consumers of the Year initiative. The competition is run in schools and is open to students aged 6-17 with three entry categories: ages 6-11, ages 12-17 and special schools.

Pictures of the designs are sent to CTSI and displayed at the annual Chartered Trading Standards Conference, where judging takes place.

More pictures available upon request.

For further information or to arrange an interview or to obtain photographs please contact the CTSI press office on 01268 582240 or [email protected]

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