Logo Design Competition

Local children submit entries on an environmental theme

Bodmin’s St. Piran’s Day committee was up for the idea of producing reusable water bottles instead of single use plastic ones at the celebration this year.

On Monday 6th March 400 children will take part in celebrating Cornwall’s Christian heritage. The annual parade starts at The Old Library at 11am, led by fiddle, pipe and drum, to Mount Folly, where the children enjoy dancing and singing traditional Cornish songs. Schools then perform a song, poem or play on a Cornish theme at St. Petroc’s Church. A pasty lunch completes the morning’s events.

The committee is keen to help lower the amount of single use plastic in community events and so it was decided to source reusable bottles and seek funding.

Bodmin Way, St. Petroc’s Church, Bodmin Life and Plastic Free Bodmin (PFB) decided to extend the project and set up a competition for local children to create a design to go on the reusable bottles. Russell Becker, of Rocket Pixels (rocketpixels.co.uk), agreed to incorporate the winning design on to 400 bottles. Plastic free art-based prizes were purchased for the top three designs.

This venture would have remained a dream without sole sponsor Proper Cornish covering the costs.

The competition’s themes, ‘What I love about Cornwall’, ‘What interests me about the natural world’ and ‘Ways to protect the environment’ inspired more than 50 children to design a logo.

Top three winning entries

PFB has recently received Plastic Free Community Status for Bodmin. Beth Woolley, Plastic Free Bodmin Lead, said: “The project provides a great opportunity to explore and extend children’s understanding of sustainability, their environment and the role they can play to participate in and enact positive change within their community.”

Committee members, competition founders and sole sponsor

First place is a design by 11-year-old Merix Robins. Merix spoke to designer Russell Beaker in front of PFB’s stall at Bodmin’s monthly market on Mount Folly. He said it took him quite a while to complete his design. He had the idea of drawing a beach strewn with rubbish and a message ‘Keep It Clean’ at first, but when this proved too tricky, he created an acrostic within a St. Piran’s flag, with the same message. When asked what inspired his final design, Merix said: “It popped into my head, as Cornwall is a good place to come, with loads of wildlife and nice people.”

Second place goes to Arthur Buck with Brooklyn Francis was awarded third place.

A special thank you is given to every child who submitted an entry.