Kirkbymoorside girl wins SPAR and Marie Curie trailer design competition

A 10-year-old girl from Kirkbymoorside in North Yorkshire has won the competition to design a lorry trailer celebrating the charity partnership between SPAR and Marie Curie.

Holly Brocklebank-Watts was selected as the winner from more than 200 entries submitted through SPAR stores in the North of England.

Her dad Nick saw the competition in the SPAR store in Sleights near Whitby during his round as a postman and took an entry template home for Holly to enter.

It was the first competition of its type launched by James Hall & Co. Ltd, SPAR’s primary wholesaler and distributor in the North of England, and entrants were encouraged to get creative to celebrate the charity partnership that has been established since 2017.

Holly, who enjoys drawing and photography, demonstrated her artistic flair with a design featuring Marie Curie’s iconic yellow daffodils depicted along the hills of North Yorkshire.

The competition attracted entrants with ages ranging from three to 80, and as well as having her winning design on the side of a SPAR articulated truck, Holly won a BMX scooter and a stationery hamper.

The grand reveal of the trailer took place in Kirkbymoorside’s Market Place outside the SPAR store where Holly was joined by parents Nick and Joanne, James Hall & Co. Ltd’s Company Stores Director Fiona Drummond, Store Manager Roland Puckering, and Cllr Nick Holroyd, from Kirkbymoorside Town Council.

Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end of life charity, and the trailer Holly has designed will travel to SPAR stores across the North of England six days a week from James Hall & Co. Ltd’s SPAR Distribution Centre in Preston.

The trailer unveiling comes during Marie Curie’s flagship annual fundraiser, the Great Daffodil Appeal, which raises funds to help support people across the UK, either at home or at one of the nine Marie Curie hospices.

Holly said: “It’s a brilliant feeling to win the competition. My design is inspired by the countryside where I live. I take lots of photos of the area, and in the spring the flowers come out. Marie Curie’s logo is a daffodil, so I decided to put those on the hillside by the road.”

Nick Watts, Holly’s proud dad, added: “Holly has been eager to see the real thing and we are all thrilled to see her design on the side of a SPAR lorry. The digital redraw is truly faithful to the original and we are very impressed with it.

“When I first saw the competition promoted, I just knew Holly had to enter it, and an hour and half after I brought the template home the design was done. Then when we were contacted about it, we could not believe Holly had been chosen as the winner, least of all Holly, who I had to show the email as proof.

“The BMX scooter prize has been a real hit and the icing on the cake, already providing hours of fun for her. As a family we would just like to thank SPAR and James Hall & Co. Ltd for organising the presentation in Kirkbymoorside and for creating a memorable day.”

Fiona Drummond said: “It was an absolute pleasure to meet Holly and her family in Kirkbymoorside for the grand reveal. We had some incredible entries and Holly’s entry was chosen as the winner for her inclusion of Marie Curie yellow through the daffodils and her consideration of both SPAR and Marie Curie branding.

“While celebrating a charity in Marie Curie that is close to our hearts, we also felt Holly really portrayed our SPAR North of England patch well where we are lucky to have four National Parks and seven Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty on our doorstep.”

Tom Heron, Head of Partnership Management at Marie Curie, said: “There were so many SPAR customers of all ages submitted designs to the competition, and we have been amazed by the creativity of the entries and how the charity partnership with Marie Curie is interpreted by people.

“The competition really has celebrated the spirit of this partnership and the communities both SPAR and Marie Curie support. The daffodil design is perfect for spring and our annual Great Daffodil Appeal. I would like to congratulate Holly on an outstanding design, and hope that she is able to see it out on the road when it is delivering to SPAR stores.”

Cllr Nick Holroyd, representing Kirkbymoorside Town Council, said: “I think this has been a wonderful initiative between James Hall & Co. Ltd, SPAR and Marie Curie and I’m very pleased that Holly’s design has been chosen as the winner.

“The SPAR store in Kirkbymoorside is at the centre of the community, and the grand reveal has created a real buzz in the town. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for the trailer when I’m out and about.”

James Hall & Co. Ltd serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.

You can find out more about James Hall & Co. Ltd at www.jameshall.co.uk.