Six-year-old Ellis’s snowman design chosen for digital Christmas card

Rochdale Borough Council chief executive Steve Rumbelow meets Ellis Kelly at Springside Primary School in Rochdale, presenting him with a framed version of his design

Christmas has come early for six-year-old Ellis Kelly from Rochdale after his design was chosen to be council chief executive Steve Rumbelow’s official e-card this year.

Mr Rumbelow invited local schools to enter the festive design competition and Ellis’s design, featuring a friendly snowman looking out into the night sky, was chosen.

His drawing has now been made into an animated electronic card with a moving nose and twinkling colours to be distributed by email to hundreds of individuals and organisations.

This week Mr Rumbelow visited Springside School, where Ellis is a pupil to meet him in person and present him with a framed print of his design, a £50 gift voucher and chocolates for his classmates.

Steve said he was very impressed with Ellis’s design: “I asked local schools to help come up with some festive ideas for my electronic card. We have some budding creatives in our schools, and I received lots of fantastic designs. Ellis’s snowman instantly made me smile and encapsulated the spirit of Christmas, a striking design which has helped make a lovely digital card.”

Richard Kershaw from Springside Primary School said:  “We’re really proud of Ellis, it’s lovely to have one of our pupils stand out with something like this and it was great to have a visit from Steve which the children really enjoyed.”