THOUSANDS of pupils from Alyn and Deeside took part in an annual Christmas tradition.

Fifteen primary schools throughout the area took part in designing their own Christmas card in the hopes of having it printed on an official card to be handed out to constituents, businesses and politicians.

The event was first started by Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami in 2001, who wanted to give children something to look forward to over the festive season.

He said: “I thought it was a good way of engaging with schools and I was pleased with the response and we’ve had a great response since.

“It isn’t just the presents they like, the kids get a big kick out of seeing their design, that always seems to go down well.

“Sometimes we think these things run out of steam but it hasn’t, we’ve always had a lot of interest and hopefully it carries on that way.”

Alyn and Deeside Assembly Member Jack Sargeant, who was also at the event, called out the names of the finalists and the people attending then had an opportunity to meet and their photographs taken with their local politicians.

Mr Sargeant told the Leader: “It’s a great honour to continue this annual event with Mark who did it with Dad and I’m proud to continue it this year.

“We’ve had some great entries and children across Alyn and Deeside once again showed our special community and skillset.

“All parents should be proud just like I know myself, Mark and teachers are.

“I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.”

Taking first place was Jacob Parry (Ewloe Green) who won Theatr Clwyd tickets to see the Christmas pantomime.

Emily Jones (Abermorddu CP) came second, winning a family pass for ice skating, donated by Aura Leisure.

Third place went to Silvi Ivanova (Sandycroft CP) who won a stationery set from Gap Personnel.

Cllr Martine White, of Connah’s Quay, said: “It’s wonderful to see all the schools getting involved. It took hours to pick out the winner but it’s nice to see the tradition carry on.”

A ceremony was held to congratulate the finalists at Communities for Work Plus and in line with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, the winning design will be produced as an e-card to cut out the use of excessive paper.

Other finalists included: Oliver Maltas (Broughton), Libby Rush (Mountain Lane), Emily Jones (Bryn Deva), Zofia Banasiak (Cae’r Nant), Nikita Cerniavskij (Golftyn), Amber Coutts (Wepre), Mia Gill (Penarlag), Fraser Harris (Saltney Ferry), Alfie Bennett (Ty Ffynnon), Lottie Hall (Parc y Llan), Sophie Evans (Venerable Edward Morgan) and Grace Brown (St Ethelwold’s).

Sam Freeman, director of marketing for Theatr Clwyd, added: “We were really keen to support this event.

“We aim to support events that bring the community together and it’s also about encouraging art and creativity so there’s nothing to not like about it.”