We are delighted to announce our Poetry Together 2024 winners!

Congratulations to Minsa from Oasis Academy Fir Vale, Sheffield and Frank McMahon from Gloucestershire

And our runners-up…

Older category:

Wild Cat by Anne Parsons

Those Black and Blue Remembered Hills by Florence Cox

The Value of Friendship by Haneefah Muhammad

Friendship by Imelda Knight

Younger Category:

Friendship by Thomas K

Friendship by XW, Saint John Henry Newman Catholic Church

My Friends that have blossomed by M, Bridgewater Primary School

Friendship is... by East Hunsbury Primary School and East Hunsbury Seniors

They each received a £200 book voucher.

Celebrating all things poetry at Central Hall Westminster

On November 11th Poetry Together held a special event at Central Hall Westminster where 1,000 people, young and old joined together to celebrate all things poetry. Guests enjoyed workshops and performances from top poets; former Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho, Steven Camden aka polarbear, Laura Mucha, Matt Goodfellow, Coral Rumble and Clare Dyer. The Poetry Society and the Forward Arts Foundation joined us to offer interactive activities.

Guests from schools across the country, grandparents and older communities were also given the opportunity to perform in the Great Hall. This iconic stage has been shared with incredible speakers such as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and the Prince of Wales in the past.

Attendees left feeling inspired and motivated, with a reinvigorated love of poetry. One school commented that “it was the best school trip ever”, and another wrote that “it was wonderful to bear witness to the enthusiasm for and love of poetry by so many people of all ages.”

A command performance at Buckingham Palace

On Thursday 21st November, The Queen received 2024’s Poetry Together competition winners Colin Hinton, 92 and Avi Goel, 9, at Buckingham Palace to hear their Poetry Together winning poems. They were introduced by Gyles Brandreth and joined by Dukes Education's Chairman and Founder, Aatif Hassan.

Her Majesty talked with Colin and Avi about their Poetry Together experience before listening to them perform their poems. Colin commented, “I was struck by how gracious Queen Camilla was, she made sure everyone felt special.” Avi said, “It’s been the best day. Queen Camilla was so warm and welcoming, and the biscuits were really good.”

In The News

ITV Meridian News visited Claredon House Care Home to speak to our 2023 winners Colin and Avi and their friends. They did a wonderful job of explaining just why Poetry Together is so special, and how it can make such a difference to young and old.

We are thrilled with the response from this year’s Poetry Together. It launched with a showcase for Her Majesty The Queen and our partners at Fielding Primary School in Ealing at the end of August. This was quickly followed by a launch at The British Library where young and old from across the country experienced inspirational workshops from literary talents: Joseph Coelho, UK Children’s Laureate, Slam Poetry star, Steven Camden, aka Polarbear, and Jodie Russi-Red, Poet, Storyteller and Co-creation Manager at the British Library.

Since then, we have received over 400 fabulous poetry entries on the theme of ‘happiness’ - we’ve laughed, and we’ve cried! Award-winning author Lucy Cuthew helped us with the unenviable task of picking out some extra-special entries to receive prizes.

Inter-generational connection is at the heart of Poetry Together and we have been incredibly heartened to hear of all the get togethers that have taken place for hundreds of people from Southend to Shanghai. One school took 150 Year 2 students to a residential living community, while others used it as a good excuse to get to know their elderly neighbours better. Many of the schools have continued their relationships with their local care homes, visiting for Christmas carols and finding lots of other reasons to spend time together again.

Some beautiful stories of connection have emerged. We’ve been told of a resident in a care home with dementia who was once a schoolteacher and how a spark was reignited thanks to her interaction with the school children. Another school contacted us to tell us of a young boy who had a tough start in life. He had written a poem with his adoptive grandfather and the process had really helped to bring them together. We’ve also recently heard the sad news that a resident at one of the care home get togethers has recently passed away. The resident’s daughter wrote to the school to thank their Creative Writing Club for the poem they had written for their mother and let them know that her grandaughter had read it at her funeral. The school thanked Poetry Together for ‘prompting what has been a profoundly meaningful exchange’. This is what it is all about.

We can’t wait to get started again with Poetry Together 2024. We’re excited to see more brilliant poems from budding writers and to encourage more wonderful things that come from both ends of the generational spectrum, connecting, sharing poems and having a chat over a cup of tea.

Gyles Brandreth

“With young children, engaging with poetry helps with language skills in all sorts of ways. Studies have shown that learning poetry by heart improves performance academically at school, improving concentration, and even supporting better sleep.

For adults, evidence shows that learning poetry by heart can give you a happier and more successful life. It improves the ability to communicate and strengthen relationships, improves memory, increases brain capacity and can help keep dementia at bay. It’s amazing stuff really. Learning poetry together changes lives!

The project is a wonderful way to bring communities closer. We don’t need science to explain how special it can be when people from two ends of the generational spectrum get together and have a chat over a cup of tea.”