The presentation of awards for the shortlisted submissions to the Young Writers Competition 2025 took place on Saturday 11th October at The Old Court.
The evening was very well attended and the standard of entries extremely impressive. We had twenty-four prizes to award to twenty-two prizewinners, who were accompanied by their friends and family. Here are the details of all the prize winners in the order they were presented on the night:
Y6/7 Story Awards – Awarded by Legoland and Chiltern Bookshops
| Commended | Emma Whapples | The Silent Street |
| Commended | Orla Creswell | The Mysterious Encounter |
| Highly Commended | Tharuli Ratnayaka | The Forgotten Souls |
| Highly Commended | Harmony Carro-Tevfik | Running Away |
| Second | Lexii Yang | False Recall |
| First | Theo Anton-Li | The End of the Beginning |
Y6/7 Poem Awards – Awarded by Legoland and Chiltern Bookshops
| Commended | Ruby Moudrak | Greatness of Gratitude |
| Highly Commended | Freddie Smart | My Dog Hector is The Best Dog in the World |
| Second | Sophie McCabe | Scarecrow |
| First | Julia Johnson | My Bonnie and me |
Years 8-10 Story Award – Awarded by Tesco
| Commended | Michael Aitchison-Anastasio | Reaching the Top of the Globe |
| Commended | Lisa Pietrzak | His Head Fell For Her |
| Highly Commended | Tianna Fleming | Finding Myself |
| Highly Commended | Darcey Kelsall | The Runner |
| Second | Sadie Bell | When I Dance |
| First | Tabby Spence | The Letter |
Y8-10 Poem Award – Awarded by Tesco
| Highly Commended | James Odgers | Friend or Foe |
| Second | Aditi Arora | Written in the Stars |
| First | Saad Aziz | Gaza in my heart |
Y11+ Story Award – Awarded by The Prince Philip Trust Fund
| Highly Commended | Poppy Knowles | The Man With No Face Phenomenon |
| First = | Zakhar Navalnyy | The Lighthouse |
| First = | Cyrus Poonawalla | Kite |
Year 11+ Poem Award – Awarded by The Prince Philip Trust Fund
| Second | Poppy Knowles | Self-Justification |
| First | Cyrus Poonawalla | Dining Hall |
We Welcomed Notable Names From Near & Far
We were honoured to have with us the Mayor of Windsor & Maidenhead, Cllr Mandy Brar; and the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, Mr Joshua Reynolds; and two of our sponsors’ representatives, Mr Andrew Try, Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, representing the Prince Philip Trust Fund, and Mr Jon Davey representing Tesco.
Our young writers have proved their amazing skill in writing. They can all have a beautifully bright future in the wonderful world of writing. They just need to keep going…
Guest Author Elaine Hastings (When We Were Young) presented the prizes and talked about her experiences as a writer, offering suggestions and encouragement to the young writers, during a conversation session with Vanessa Gordon, Chairman of Windsor Writers (The Naxos Mysteries).
After that Elaine and the available sponsors presented the prizes and certificates to the successful young writers, after which the audience heard the winning stories and poems read aloud. All the finalists are to be warmly congratulated.
How The Competition Worked
The competition was open to young writers from Year 6 up to the age of 18 on 31.8.2025 who live, work or go to school/college in RBWM. They could enter one short story of up to 500 words and/or one poem of up to 30 lines. Prizes awarded were:
- First prize – Legoland voucher (youngest group), otherwise £75 book token
- Second prize – Legoland voucher (youngest group story award), otherwise £30 book token
- Highly Commended – £15 book token
- Commended – £10 book token
Writers choose to write, not necessarily to be expert public speakers but we saw some exceptional skills in both those areas.
Thank you to our sponsors
Without your assistance, we couldn’t have given our young writers this opportunity.
Prince Philip Trust Fund – the fund makes a real difference to the quality of life of people from communities across the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It focuses support towards disability, health, the elderly, families, children and young people, those in social need and the arts.
Chiltern Bookshops, not only for being brilliant independent bookshops, but also for their generous donation towards our prizes.
You can visit their shops in Gerrards Cross or Chorleywood for a unique bookshop experience including some fantastic author events.
LEGOLAND® – their Windsor Resort is a unique family theme park where visitors can take to the road, soar through the skies, and sail the seas in complete safety. With interactive rides, attractions, live shows, building workshops, and driving schools, not to mention a staggering 80 million LEGO®bricks, all set in 150 acres of beautiful parkland.
Tesco – one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, offering groceries, clothing, electronics, and more. Tesco operates various store formats, including Express and Extra, catering to diverse customer needs. It also emphasizes sustainability and community support initiatives.
Windsor Writers' Group 