Bringing generations together to create something special…

The Staveley Art and Craft Competition has previously been welcomed as an activity that was held as special to the town. This year it makes a return and we hope that you will again support this project, along with it’s follow-on activity being the creation of ‘The Staveley Banner ’

The competition has been revived with  two elements, to allow all  ages to be involved and get creative. The aim is not only to hold a competition for schools to take part, but to bring generations together, through young ideas and imagination, combining with traditional crafts and working methods, The result will be the production of a community collaborative work in the form of a banner, which will be hung traditionally in Staveley Hall’s Devonshire Room

The final work will be on display and allow people of all ages, to engage and enjoy their shared imaginative minds and practical skills.

Element 1: The School Competition

Within the ‘School Art Competition’ we encourage children to create a piece of two-dimensional art: a drawing, painting, design, in any medium  representing ‘Staveley it’s Past and its Present’.

It may perhaps be a place they like or have noticed; a story from history; an activity they take part in; or something about how we live today in Staveley, creating a social comment to look back upon in the future, and see how we used to live, through the eyes of children.

Prize winners will be chosen from each school, selected by the Chair of Staveley Town Council and a judging panel, followed by a presentation event that will follow in March 2026.

The presentation event will be open to public to attend the giving of awards, certificates and medals and view those works entered. All awarded entries will be framed and returned to the artist for the school to display.

Timeline of the School Art Competition

Launch Date:

September 2025

Invitations to schools to take part in this years Art &  Craft Project / Art Competition

Close of Registration:

October 3rd 2025

Email from the school to be sent to events@staveleytowncouncil.gov.uk to confirm they will be taking part in the project.

Close Date for Entering:

Monday 2nd March 2026

Close of Applications / Entries to be received by the Town Clerk, Staveley Hall, S43 3TN  no later than 12 noon.

Judging Dates:

Wednesday 4th March to Friday 6th March

Judging will take place. The judging  panel will include the Chair of Staveley Town Council.

Decisions:

Monday 9th March

Schools will be informed of winners and commended entries along with details of the presentation night and open invitation.

Presentation Event:

Friday 27^th March 2026

The Presentation night will take place with a start time of 5.30pm. Anyone can come along to the presentation and this will be advertised by Staveley Town Council

At the end of the Presentation Night the winning and commended entries will be able to collect their framed artworks from the display.

Copies of the entries will be made after judging in office, to enable the  original works to be framed and returned to the young artists and creators, The copies of the artworks will then go  forward to Local Craft groups and volunteers to begin Element 2 – The Staveley Banner

Element 2 – The Banner Project 

Bringing together ideas and visions from local children and the learned crafts and traditional methods of older Staveley, creating together

• This element is designed to create a wall-hanging banner which will be on permanent display at Staveley Hall, via the Tapestry Rail in the Devonshire Room, as would have been the case through it’s older history.
• The Hall presently has the Tapestry hanging furniture within the Devonshire Room, yet there is no tapestry. This project is to create a ‘History of the Now’, bringing that custom back to life in the process, promoting & combining older crafts and traditions combining with young minds and visions. Tapestries were hung originally in such buildings that depicted views of life and from the surrounding area. This project grabs that old tradition and brings it in to the present.
• The success of the complete project is reliant on both young and old, and will result in a private viewing of the complete work where both children and crafters can come together and talk about their work with each other.
• It will form something that in future years others will view and study, as we today study images of the past. History is not only something that happened long ago but something that we are making everyday. The marketing for this whole project will include the wording ‘Make History Today’ to raise awareness to that.
• This element would involve people coming forward to transform one of the children’s artworks in to a textile, soft, crafted panel, using traditional crafts such as felting, embroidery, wool work, applique etc.
• We are currently in conversations with local craft groups and will advertise for more volunteers once we are aware of school participation.

These panels would be using traditional crafts of the area such as knitting, crochet and felting, and be of a soft nature in order to join together to form a large collaborative wall Hanging using the visions of the younger members of the Staveley community depicted in the skills of the older people within the Staveley community.

We encourage all to take part in creating this document of now.

Element 2: Timeline of Craftwork Banner

January 2026

Advertising would be run to local crafters groups and an advertisement out for local crafters to participate in a collaborative project. Names would then be taken in order to contact in June

Monday March 30th 2026 

The crafters would be given one of the winners or commended designs from the Art Competition to work with and produce their own rendition of the image within their choice of craft

Wednesday July 30th 2026

All crafted works would be completed and returned to Staveley Hall

Staff would voluntarily combine the finished items to create the wall hanging by attaching to the Hessian  backing in readiness to Hang.

The Final work of the Staveley Banner would be placed in situ in the Devonshire Room

Wednesday 19th August

A Coffee Morning with children’s buffet would be held in the Devonshire Room with crafters and all awarded and commended children being invited to attend, along with teachers and/or parents

 Bringing Generations together with a common theme to chat and talk about their work, and about life, how they made it and what they enjoyed

Teachers, parents would be invited to the event hosted by Staveley Town Council , this is a private invitation only event. The public opening will be at a later date so as not to overwhelm younger members of the community

Questions and Answers …

Q – Where can I find out more information?

A – Ask in your school, all schools have been sent information in September 2025. Should your school not be registered dont worry, you can still take part by requesting information on how to enter from Staveley Town Council by either visiting the Reception Monday to Friday 10am until 4pm ( or have a parent or responsible adult do this for you), or phone us on 01246 473132 and we can arrange for this information to be sent to you.

Q- Can i enter if I go to a school that is not in the Staveley Town Council Area ?

A – Unfortunately not on this occasion as this is only for those attending schools in the area.

Q- Does it matter what I decide as the subject of my work?

A – The subject should be something about Staveley now, that you enjoy whether its a place you go, or buildings you like, or something you like doing as a pastime. For example a park you play in, or a sport you enjoy, a particular fair or function, a game you play etc .

The subject matter is to show children in the future what children enjoyed in 2025 in Staveley and give a view of what life was like for children to those in the future looking back, as we now look back at what people before us did in their daily life. We see what it was like to go to school, where people worked, places they visited and events they went to. We would like to record this moment in history through your artworks, combine the images with traditional crafts and leave behind something that represents the children and crafters of Staveley Today for all tomorrows.

Q Do i have to be a certain age?

A – No, any age attending a school in the area can enter.

Q – If I am a Headteacher / Teacher and our school has not registered to enter this competition is it too late?

A – No it is not too late, simply drop an email to events@staveleytowncouncil.gov.uk and we can register your school, the only difference is that there will be less time for children to create the work as the deadline is March 2nd 2026 to be received at Staveley Hall reception by noon

The  School Art Competition Rules

1. All schools should email events@staveleytowncouncil.gov.uk and register their participation by Friday 3rd October 2025 ( to assist in planning of further elements )

2. All children taking part should attend one of the invited schools

3.  All Artwork should be on an A4 piece of paper

     and have on reverse:

• Name of child
• Class Teacher
• Name of School
• A Title

All artwork must be received by Monday 2nd March 2026 by Noon.

Entering the competition automatically gives consent to the use of the artwork for Element 2 of the Project and the potential of use within the creation of the Staveley Banner.

The Members of Staveley Town Council will make resources available and work hard to promote the competition and would be grateful for your help and co-operation in encouraging the children to take part and ensuring the competition is a success.