A CARE home has challenged youngsters to write stories and poems about their grandparents as part of a competition with nearby primary schools.

Residents at Willowdene Care Home in Sedgefield will judge the entries and award prizes to the winners at a special ceremony next month.

The youngsters will also get the chance to read out their work.

Alison Kelly, care manager at Willowdene, said: “We wanted to host a competition that would celebrate and honour grandparents, as well as elderly people in our community.

“We thought that a story competition would be the perfect way of having children express how important their grandparents are to them and then sharing this with our residents.

“Over Christmas we had several primary school choirs come in to our home to sing carols. Our residents loved having the children visit so we wanted to carry on building the relationship between our home and the local schools, while also giving something back to the community.”

The overall winner of the competition will receive a £20 WH Smith voucher, trophy, certificate and a £100 donation to their school.

Prizes will also be awarded for the second and third place entries.