InLinkUK, the company behind the new community communications service replacing BT phone boxes, has announced the winner of its artwork competition for primary school children aged 9-11 in KS2. Pupils were challenged to imagine London high-streets of the future. InLink is delighted to announce the winning pupil is Abigail Bishton-Down aged 11 from Earlsfield Primary in Wandsworth.
InLink challenged pupils at schools across Camden, Hackney, Islington and Wandsworth to produce a piece of art which encapsulated what they think the high-streets of London will look like in the future. This could be a painting or drawing of a London high street near where they live, or one that pupils have completely reimagined. InLink challenged them to be really imaginative and think flying cars, colourful zebra crossings or even triple decker buses. Who better to ask about the future of London’s streets than the next generation that will walk them!
The prize up for grabs is £1,000 cash for the winner to put towards further education and/or artwork supplies. Abigail’s winning piece of artwork will be displayed on InLink screens for the community to enjoy (on a rotating basis throughout participating London boroughs) for the rest of the year. Runners up will also be showcased across InLink’s social media channels.
Matt Bird, General Manager at InLinkUK commented: “We were really impressed with the standard of entries in the first year of running this competition. The work we’ve had submitted from pupils at schools across the four participating London boroughs really shows the creative flair among our young people, and that their schools and teachers are doing a great job in harnessing it. At InLink, we pride ourselves on supporting local talent and providing space on InLink screens in local communities to showcase such talents, whether that be from young people or from up and coming artists. We believe displaying community artwork makes our streets more vibrant and enjoyable places to be. Congratulations to our winner Abigail Bishton-Down, we’re delighted to be able to showcase your work on InLink screens across the capital.”
Miss E.Gopaul, Specialist Art Teacher, and Miss R.Gowers, Year 6 Class Teacher, at Earlsfield Primary School said: “Earlsfield Primary are incredibly proud of Abi for this impressive and well-deserved competition win. We have recently achieved our Artsmark Gold award and accolades like this reinforce how highly we value the arts and endeavour to provide our students with opportunities to thrive beyond the classroom. Abi is a talented and ambitious young artist and this accomplishment is a shining example of how passion and hard work can lead to great things. Our specialist art teacher and the rest of the school are inspired by Abi’s creativity and originality and we will no doubt be hearing about Abi’s future accomplishments as she moves on to secondary school.”
InLink is revolutionising streetscapes and helping to provide a connected city solution that delivers the fastest and most robust free public Wi-Fi service in the UK. Improving local amenities and providing direct benefits for the community, the services offered by each InLink are available free for everyone.
In addition free phones calls and tablet use is available for everyone in the community. InLinks also give people in need a one-touch lifeline to four charities: Samaritans, Childline, End Youth Homelessness, Runaway Helpline, with over 12,000 people accessing the services since the start of the year. Additionally InLink gave away more than 158,000 hours of free screen-time to local councils to promote their initiatives since Jan 2019.
