As our Storytime Saturdays was all about little ones using their imaginations to be taken on an adventure, we thought it was the perfect time to run our very own story writing competition.

Throughout September we gave children aged 4-11 the chance to WIN one super prize including a family ticket to The Roald Dahl Museum & Story Centre AND to have their story printed and displayed in the centre!

To enter, children must have create their own story book character, developing a name and personality. They there then required to write a short story, no longer than 300 words, making reference to the shopping centre and a mention of High Wycombe.

Children needed to create an illustration of their character to accompany their story. The winner will have their drawing brought to life by a digital artist, which will be displayed alongside their story.

There was also 3x £50 vouchers up for grabs for a winner of each of the following age groups:

4-6 years
7-9 years
10-11 years

The competition ran from 1st – 30th September 2023.

Aariya Tirahan aged 9 won our Storywriting Compeition with her story 'Jasmine', which you can read below.

Jasmine was a fashionista and the biggest trendsetter in High Wycombe, she adored shopping. Jasmine just LOVED the excitement of walking into a store and wondering what she may return home with.

Today was Jasmine’s 13th birthday and she was super excited as not only were her parents throwing her the party of the century, but she had also been given an allowance to shop with her best friend Jade at her favourite place, the EDEN shopping centre. She knew exactly what she was going to buy, a limited-edition dress that could only be bought in store.  

As they walked to Eden, they bumped into their arch enemy Priscilla Jones. She gave them both a dirty look and snarled “Where are you two losers going?”. Jasmine wasn’t going to let anyone ruin her special day, so she took a deep breath and replied, “We’re off on a shopping spree to buy a new dress for my birthday”. Priscilla huffed “OMG you dinosaurs are going to a shopping centre?? Don’t you know that you get better discounts online?”.

Jasmine could feel her blood boiling and responded, “Well actually that’s not always true. Plus, you don’t have to wait for delivery and ruin the environment with all that packaging, you can try on your clothes and see yourself from all angles- thanks to those awesome mirrors.” Jade added “You also can’t buy this particular dress online and BESIDES who asked you for your opinion?”

Jasmine linked arms with Jade and off they went to shop.