Young deaf people scoop the Tele trophies

From: Belfast Telegraph, UK - May 9, 2003

By Gary Grattan

Jordan Parr and Elizabeth Braniff pictured with the trophies they won in the Young Authors and Artists competition

JORDAN Parr (11), a pupil at Lisnasharragh Primary School, and Elizabeth Braniff (13), of Rose's High School, have plenty to smile about.

For they collected trophies in the annual Belfast Telegraph Young Authors and Artists awards ceremony in the Ulster Museum, organised by the National Deaf Children's Society to coincide with the first ever National Deaf Awareness Week.

Jordan received the Belfast Telegraph Cup for best overall entry and Elizabeth the St Michael Trophy.

The competition, launched by Belfast Telegraph columnist Bob McCullough in the early 1980s, provides a forum for deaf children to express themselves through creative writing and art.

National Deaf Awareness Week promotes positive aspects of deafness, social inclusion and raises awareness of the huge range of local organisations that support deaf people and their family and friends.

The children involved in the Young Authors and Artists project had one workshop with a professional artist and one with a professional writer.

Northern Ireland Arts Officer Jill Black said: "The work this year has been of a very high standard and choosing winners from all the entries was incredibly difficult.

"Once again deaf children have risen to the challenge and confounded people's expectations of them."

The work will be on display until next Monday at the museum.

© 2003 Belfast Telegraph