This year the United Kingdom and the world will witness the first Coronation of a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1953. With fewer than 100 days now until King Charles III’s Coronation on 6 May, Julia Lopez MP is inviting talented young artists to design a card to send to the King on behalf of the Hornchurch & Upminster constituency in her new Card for the King competition. The card will be part of the celebrations to commemorate this historic moment and thank His Majesty for his dedication and service to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
The competition to create the final card is open to all primary aged children from the Hornchurch & Upminster constituency and the winning design will be chosen by Mrs Lopez, to be sent to Buckingham Palace on behalf of residents. The winner will then be invited to join the local MP for a celebratory tea in the Houses of Parliament.
The Card for the King competition follows last year’s successful Platinum Jubilee Card for the Queen event, which saw eight year-old Emily Barnard of Benhurst Primary’s winning design sent to HM Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate her seventy-year reign. Miss Barnard beat stiff competition from hundreds of fantastically creative competition entries by her contemporaries from schools across Havering.
Mrs Lopez will be highlighting the Card for the King competition to all primary schools in her constituency but children can also enter the competition directly. All a child needs to do is to design a Coronation-themed picture on an A4 piece of paper which, if chosen, will be printed on to a card for the King. Entries can then be emailed or posted either to julia.lopez.mp@parliament.uk or to her constituency office at The Coach House, 133 Hall Lane, Upminster RM14 1AL.
Entry is limited to one design per child and all entries must be received by Monday 3 April. Artists should include their full name, age, school and address with their entry.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, in which Mrs Lopez serves as a Minister, is organising the Coronation celebrations with the Palace on behalf of the nation. Alongside the competition, Mrs Lopez is encouraging local community groups to apply to the National Lottery Community Fund, which has announced that they are now taking applications to fund King’s Coronation events and celebrations.
Grants of between £300 and £10 000 can be applied for to help communities celebrate this nationally important event.
Groups based in Hornchurch & Upminster that wish to apply should submit by 11 February at - https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/national-lottery-awards-for-all-england It can take up to 12 weeks from National Lottery Awards for All application submission to successful groups receiving funding.
Mrs Lopez said, ‘My team and I loved selecting designs from our Card for the Queen competition - the talent and artistry displayed by children across the constituency was amazing. We want to revive that spirit of fun and celebration to mark the King’s Coronation, so that he will know he has the support and well wishes of people from across Hornchurch & Upminster ahead of Coronation Day. We encourage all budding young artists to join in and look forward to welcoming the winner in parliament later this year. In the meantime, we’re also encouraging local groups to bid for lottery funds so that some fantastic Coronation celebrations can be supported across the constituency’.
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