Nottinghamshire has a wonderful literary reputation and children of the county have proved over the last ten years that they can continue that tradition in the future. The free to enter New Writers UK (NWUK) Creative Writing Competition is open to young people of the county from 8 to 18 years old and it encourages their imagination to fly. Great Nottinghamshire writers such as Alan Sillitoe, Lord Byron, D H Lawrence, John Harvey and Stephen Booth were encouraged to use their literary talent and the finalists of the NWUK competition are now being given that opportunity.

Our finalists receive awards and their stories and poems are then published, and they are each presented with a copy of that year's book containing their entries. Non finalists do not go away empty handed. Every child who enters receives a certificate and a personal letter encouraging them to try again the following year.

But, after ten years, funding to keep this wonderful project going has become more and more difficult to obtain . Parents, teachers and young people are all asking us to continue as they appreciate the opportunity being given to write freely. Without support, we can no longer continue and I am now asking for your help, if you live - or your child goes to school - within the Nottinghamshire boundary and this incudes Nottingham City, please help us continue to encourage our young people to become the authors, script writers or playwrights of the future and preserve the county's rich literary history.