Todmorden News

Children Celebrate Todmorden

The winner of a Calderdale Council competition for children to design a flag for Todmorden saw her creation flown in the peace garden today. Ema Loderer, aged six, of Ferney Lee School will see her flag raised on International Children’s Day (1st June) each year. Ema and her family will also have tea with the Mayor of Todmorden and receive a token for a local toy shop.

There were over 300 entries for the competition, which were displayed in an exhibition at Todmorden Town Hall on Saturday 22nd May.

The Council also ran a competition for children to tell them what they would change about Todmorden if they had a magic wand. The winner was seven-year-old Isaac Hughes Dennis who received a family membership to Eureka. Isaac suggested a meadow roof for the market along with swinging chairs in the bus station, a permanent water fountain outside the vets on Burnley Road and an outdoor swimming pool in at the old Netto car park.

The responses varied from having elephants as buses and grass meadows on the market roofs to changing the Town Hall into a bowling alley and creating £1000 fines for people who litter.

Portfolio Holder for Safer and Stronger Communities, Councillor David O’Neill said:

“These competitions are just some of the ways the Council is encouraging children to talk about and celebrate Todmorden.

“The children’s ideas quite often show that they share many of the same concerns as adults; namely litter, dog waste and the quality of the buildings.

“This is really useful for us and the children, as they can be a part of the changes we make in Todmorden.”