Radio 2’s 500 WORDS competition launches and announces a Royal Judge
Today, in his Radio 2 Breakfast Show, Chris Evans launched 500 WORDS. The writing competition returns for the sixth year, and children around the country aged between five and 13 are encouraged to get creative and send in their amazing stories by 7pm on Thursday 25 February.
Published: 18 January 2016
I’m immensely proud that Radio 2 offers such a distinctive range of programming, especially 500 WORDS which inspires so many children across the UK to put pen to paper. I hope parents will encourage their children to take part in 2016 to give us another record-breaking year of entries.
- The Duchess of Cornwall to be an honorary Judge
- Chris Evans and The Duchess of Cornwall feature in a specially created animation
- Final to be held at Shakespeare’s Globe in London
Today in his Radio 2 Breakfast Show, Chris Evans launched 500 WORDS. The writing competition returns for the sixth year, and children around the country aged between 5 and 13 years of age are encouraged to get creative and send in their amazing stories by 7pm on Thursday 25 February.
In today’s very special announcement, Chris revealed that The Duchess of Cornwall - who is a passionate advocate for children’s literacy - will be an Honorary Judge for the competition. And, for the first time ever, The Duchess of Cornwall features with Chris in a short animation specially created for 500 WORDS in which they have both recorded the voiceovers for their own animated character. View the animation now at bbc.co.uk/500words. Stills from the animation can be viewed below.
To tie in with the BBC’s celebration of Shakespeare - to be announced by Director-General Tony Hall later this week - the final will take place in a spectacular live broadcast from Shakespeare’s Globe in London. And, new this year, every single child who enters will be entered into a ballot to attend this show along with the finalists.
Chris Evans says: “Myself and the whole 500 WORDS team at BBC Radio 2 are hugely proud and honoured to welcome The Duchess of Cornwall as an Honorary Judge for the competition. Does this mean Radio 2 is now ‘By Royal Appointment’? How exciting! And with the final taking place in the amazing surroundings of Shakespeare’s Globe, this will be a truly special year for the competition. So come on kids, what are you waiting for? Get inspired, get writing and make sure you send your entry to us by 25 February for the chance to join us there!”
Talking about the animation, Chris says: “The team at Radio 2 have put together an awesome animation featuring yours truly. It’s fantastic fun seeing myself in cartoon form AND I’m in the most gracious company imaginable, as none other than The Duchess of Cornwall agreed to be animated too – for the first time ever! I go on a fantastical journey over the London skyline in the film and it feels like a fitting tribute to the wonderful journey 500 WORDS has taken us on – not to mention the hundreds of thousands of entrants! – since the competition started in 2011.”
Bob Shennan, Controller of BBC Radio 2, says: “Since 500 Words was launched in 2011, over 450,000 stories have been written by children, all keen to hear their creations read aloud on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show. I’m immensely proud that Radio 2 offers such a distinctive range of programming, especially 500 Words which inspires so many children across the UK to put pen to paper. I hope parents will encourage their children to take part in 2016 to give us another record-breaking year of entries.”
500 WORDS was first launched in 2011 in association with Hay Festival at www.hayfestival.com. Last year, The Duchess of Cornwall hosted the live Final in the beautiful surroundings of St James’s Palace and presented the Gold medal winners with their prizes. For this year’s competition, HRH joins the esteemed 500 WORDS Judging Panel - Malorie Blackman, Charlie Higson, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Francesca Simon. They will all read the shortlisted entries, debate them and ultimately decide who will be the 2016 winners.
As part of the BBC’s celebration of Shakespeare, on Friday 27 May, the finalists will come to Shakespeare’s Globe for a special live broadcast of The Breakfast Show where the winners will be revealed. Plus, new this year, every single child who enters will be entered into a ballot for the chance to attend the final as well. The winning entries will be announced and read out by some ‘superstar narrators’. In 2015, the readers of the winning stories included Sir Kenneth Branagh, Jeremy Irons and Blue Peter's Barney Harwood.
Emma Rice, Artistic Director at Shakespeare’s Globe, says: “It’s a wonder to see the Globe animated for the first time - and even more exciting as it is for the amazing 500 WORDS competition. The Globe is an iconic and inspiring venue for kids and grown-ups alike, and we’re thrilled to host a competition that celebrates stories and the extraordinary children that write them."
Also new for this year, there will be a series of short films presented by well-known names including Naomie Harris, Sheila Hancock and Horrible Histories actor Ben Willbond. The films will provide inspiration, hints and tips for anyone interested in the competition - entrants, parents and teachers alike.
Coming next month to Radio 2, Sheila Hancock presents 500 WORDS: The (Short) Story So Far (Thursday 18 February, 10-11pm). The documentary plots the story of 500 WORDS since its beginning in 2011, and hears from the competition’s creator, Chris Evans, the volunteer judges who have helped him along the way, and the young people whose lives have been changed by putting pen to paper.
The competition asks children in the UK aged 13 and under to compose an original work of fiction using no more than 500 words. Entries are in two categories: 5-9 years and 10-13 years. Budding young writers have until 7pm on Thursday 25 February to submit their stories. Full terms and conditions are available at bbc.co.uk/500words. Also on the website, children will find an array of tools to inspire them, such as the Alphabot - a friendly robot who lives on the site - and helps kids combat writer’s block.
Last year, an astounding 120,421 children put pen to paper and entered the competition – all of the stories were analysed by Oxford University Press (OUP) to find out more about the words and language used by children. In 2015, OUP crowned ‘hashtag’ and the symbol ‘#’ as Children’s Word of the Year. Since 500 WORDS first launched, over 450,000 stories have been written and OUP have analysed over 170 million words from the competition, making it the largest database of children’s writing in English available today. OUP’s findings are being analysed by language researchers at the University of Oxford to understand how best to teach reading and writing to children and improve levels of literacy in the UK. OUP continue to broaden and extend their research and will be analysing all the entries received this year.
Vineeta Gupta, Head of Children’s Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, says: “OUP are looking forward to seeing what this year’s competition will reveal. The 500 WORDS competition celebrates the creativity and imagination of children – they are true builders and shapers of language. We are excited to be continuing our research in 2016.”
BBC Radio 2 is the most listened-to radio station in the UK and has a weekly audience of 15.4m (RAJAR Q2 2015). The output of the station is highly distinctive, with its entertaining popular music programmes and speech-based content, such as news, current affairs, documentaries, religion, arts, comedy, readings and social action output, reflecting the diversity of the UK.
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