Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards 2026 trophy design

The Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards is now accepting nominations from schools - and this year the judges want your students to help design the trophy that will be presented.

The winner of this year's design competition will be able to visit the production company - Cactus Graphics - to watch as the trophies come off the production line. They will be cut from sheets of sustainable bamboo. A photo of the winning student and their trophy will be sent to the local media to celebrate their design achievement and the photo will be displayed on a giant screen at the awards celebration this autumn. So quite the honour potentially for one of your students.

The Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards celebrate people, organisations and initiatives that help support wellbeing in schools, charities, business and the community. Nominations are linked to kindness and compassion, wellbeing or mental health.

Entries for the art and design competition should be on A4 and have the young person's name, age, class and school name on the front but not touching the design. Email scans or photographs of the illustrations can be emailed to simondolby@eastkentmind.org.uk but look after the original illustrations as the printer will need it later on if it is selected as the winner. The deadline to send student designs over is Wednesday 17 June.

Simon Dolby from the judging panel said: "What images do wellbeing and kindness and compassion bring to mind for your students? We want them to turn that vision into a design for our winners' trophy. This can be a class-based activity - perhaps to fit in with a topic such as bullying or kindness - or alternatively set as a homework task."

Please email or call Simon to let him know if you will be undertaking this design activity with your class or setting it as a homework task so he can track interest - he can send you photos of previous winners to give you a better feel of what your student's end product will be turned into. If you have any questions contact him.

Your school or setting is also invited to submit nominations for the awards by visiting the Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards website

Key points:

• Artwork size - A4
• Contact details - write pupil name, age, class, school name on the front, but ensure this does not
  touch the child's design.
• Deadline - Wednesday 17 June
• Send a photo or scan of each piece of artwork to simondolby@eastkentmind.org.uk
• Want to post artwork instead?: Contact Simon to arrange.
• Visit the Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards website to find out more.