Having had to quickly tweak our services in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the team have been working hard behind the scenes to explore how we can deliver existing projects and services to continue to provide an essential lifeline for Young Carers remotely.

We know we have some very talented budding writers in our groups and wanted to organise something special for them whilst school and groups are cancelled until further notice. We are excited to announce the launch of our very first Creative Writing Competition which will be judged by award-winning author Ann Cleeves.

Also based in North Tyneside; Ann is the author behind ITV’s much-loved crime series “Vera” starring Brenda Blethyn and BBC One’s Shetland series starring Douglas Henshall as Detective Inspector Jimmy Pérez. Ann Cleeves has written over thirty novels, won several awards for her work and is the perfect person to appoint as judge for our competition.

Your task is to write a mystery-themed short story up to 500 words. It can be about anything you like, the more creative the better! All you have to do is include the following words somewhere in your mystery story:

At the start, in the middle or near the end, it’s up to you.

Send us your stories by Friday 1st May 2020 to enquiries@ntcarers.co.uk. Don’t forget to add your full name and age. We’ll announce the winners on Friday 29th May.

• Author Ann Cleeves will be our judge picking the final 3 winners
• Ann will choose one winner from Primary School category (age 5-10) and one winner from a Secondary School category (11-16).
• A third overall runner up will be chosen from either, also by Ann.
• The top 10 shortlisted entries we’ll be sending to Ann will be chosen by the Young Carers staff. Your work will be seen by an award-winning writer.
• Regrettably, we cannot give entrants feedback from Ann.
• Winners and prizes will be announced on 29th May 2020 via email, social media and our website.
• We’ll publish the 3 winners on our blog for you to share with friends and family.