Lucy Carter

Here's a little coincidence for you - I was just on the Bat Conservation Trust Facebook page for a few minutes before watching Miss Potter onTV (a film about Beatrix Potter - anyone else watching it?!) and spotted they are running a Beatrix Potter writing competition.  Details below if anyone has time on their hands before they're back to school.  Closing date 31st December so get writing, and good luck!

Could you write the bat story that Beatrix Potter never wrote?
Then we want to hear from you!

Beatrix Potter wrote stories about many little creatures....from mice and rabbits, to chipmunks and frogs - but there was never a bat....or was there? BCT found some bat drawings and paintings by Beatrix Potter in a museum, which got us thinking....did she have a bat story in mind after all?

We think such beautiful batty images deserve a story, so we're inviting you to tell to tell her untold tale.

The competition has two age groups:
• Up to 11 years
• 12-16 years

What do I have to do?
We'd like you to come up with a title and write the opening paragraphs of Beatrix Potter's untold bat story (up to 200 words) in the style of Beatrix Potter.

Visit the official Beatrix Potter website at http://www.peterrabbit.com to get a flavour of what the judges are looking for!

How do I enter?
Send a typed copy of your story along with your entry form to the address below. Don't forget to ask your parent/guardian to sign the form. (Make sure you keep a copy for yourself too, as
we can't return entries).

BCT - Beatrix Comp, Unit 2, 15 Cloisters House, 8 Battersea Park Road, London SW8 4BG

Entries close 31st December 2009.

Entries will be judged by Mrs Judy Taylor-Hough, Chair of the Beatrix Potter Society from 1996-2009, author and bat enthusiast Michael Baron, and Shirley Thompson of the Bat Conservation Trust.

Prizes!
There will be 1 winner in each age group. Prizes include:

• Your story will be on display at the Beatrix Potter Gallery, Cumbria for a month in Spring 2010 and published in our Young Batworkers' Club membership magazine and on this website.
• A Magenta bat detector, donated by the kind people at Alana Ecology
• A year's free membership of the Young Batworkers' Club.
• Your school/youth group will receive a year's free Teacher membership of BCT and a bat book.
• Two runners up in each age group will receive a bat pin badge and a bat book.

For further information, including entry forms and full terms and conditions, visit http://www.bats.org.uk/beatrixpotter.