Kirkbymoorside girl wins SPAR, Marie Curie competition

Holly Brocklebank-Watts was selected as the winner from more than 200 entries submitted through SPAR stores in the North of England.

Her dad Nick saw the competition in the SPAR store in Sleights near Whitby during his round as a postman and took an entry template home for Holly to enter.

It was the first competition of its type launched by James Hall & Co. Ltd, SPAR’s primary wholesaler and distributor in the North of England, and entrants were encouraged to get creative to celebrate the charity partnership that has been established since 2017.

Holly, who enjoys drawing and photography, demonstrated her artistic flair with a design featuring Marie Curie’s iconic yellow daffodils depicted along the hills of North Yorkshire.

The competition attracted entrants with ages ranging from three to 80, and as well as having her winning design on the side of a SPAR articulated truck, Holly won a BMX scooter and a stationery hamper.

The grand reveal of the trailer took place in Kirkbymoorside’s Market Place outside the SPAR store where Holly was joined by parents Nick and Joanne, James Hall & Co Ltd’s Company Stores Director Fiona Drummond, Store Manager Roland Puckering, and Cllr Nick Holroyd, from Kirkbymoorside Town Council.

Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end of life charity, and the trailer Holly has designed will travel to SPAR stores across the North of England six days a week from James Hall & Co. Ltd’s SPAR Distribution Centre in Preston.

The trailer unveiling comes during Marie Curie’s flagship annual fundraiser, the Great Daffodil Appeal, which raises funds to help support people across the UK, either at home or at one of the nine Marie Curie hospices.

“It’s a brilliant feeling to win the competition. My design is inspired by the countryside where I live,” said Holly. “I take lots of photos of the area, and in the spring the flowers come out. Marie Curie’s logo is a daffodil, so I decided to put those on the hillside by the road.”

Nick Watts, Holly’s proud dad, added: “Holly has been eager to see the real thing and we are all thrilled to see her design on the side of a SPAR lorry. The digital redraw is truly faithful to the original and we are very impressed with it.”