Words of love for Middleton mums

Eila Smith age nine with her mum Leanne, Judges Choice Mother's Day poetry winner, age category eight to 10

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The Middleton Shopping Centre recently invited local school children to put pen to paper and write a poem for their Mum for Mothers Day.

Two hundred and forty five poems were submitted from Little Heaton, St Peters, Middleton Parish and St Josephs schools ranging from amusing to serious, rhyming and free verse - but all shared the same sentiment – the child’s feelings towards their mum.

Lynette Howgate, manager of Middleton Shopping Centre, said: “The poems were of an exceptionally high quality which made picking a winner in each of two age categories – 5-7 and 8-11 - exceptionally difficult,.

“Eventually, we chose two excellent poems – one written by five year old Jessica Lowe from St Peter's RC and nine year old Eila Smith from Little Heaton.

"We also decided that the school submitting the best poems was St Peter's."

Jessica and her mother, Anne and Eila and her mum Leanne, were presented with their prizes - a £25 voucher for themselves and a £25 voucher for their mother - at a special presentation at 4.30pm on Wednesday.  At the presentation, both Jessica and Eila read their poem to their mum for a live recording.

Emma Lightfoot, Jessica’s teacher, from St Peter's was also at the prize presentation and was presented with a cheque for £100 for the to acknowledge the overall quality of their entries.

Nicky Barrett, Middleton Shopping Centre marketing co-ordinator, said: “We felt it was appropriate to present these young poets with their prize in Costa.

“The Costa Book Awards is one of the UK's most prestigious and popular literary prizes and recognises some of the most enjoyable books of the year, written by authors based in the UK and Ireland.

All the poems were posted on the Centre’s social media page and visitors are invited to like their favourite poem.  The poem with the most likes on Thursday, 9 March won a £25 for themselves and her mum.