Mercedes-Benz and smart team up with Gloucestershire Cricket
3 July 2014
Mercedes-Benz and smart of Cheltenham & Gloucester team up with Gloucestershire Cricket to inspire Cheltenham schoolchildren
Primary school pupil Tom Lumley will have his Cheltenham Cricket Festival-inspired design immortalised on a smart car after winning the competition of a lifetime.
The 10 year-old from St John’s C of E Primary, Cheltenham will see his design unveiled at Gloucestershire’s NatWest T20 Blast match against Essex at the Cheltenham College Ground on 20 July.
More than 120 children entered the competition, with the winner being chosen from a shortlist of 10 by a judging panel made up of Gloucestershire Captain Michael Klinger, the Club’s Chief Executive Will Brown and Steve Lyons, Divisional Sales Director from Sytner Mercedes-Benz.
Michael said: “The standard of entries was fantastic and it was a difficult decision, but Tom’s picture really captured the spirit of the Cheltenham Cricket Festival. His design showed plenty of imagination, including aspects of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, the beautiful setting of Cheltenham College and lots of cricket themed elements.”
The Brewin Dolphin Cheltenham Cricket Festival is the oldest running cricket festival on an outfield in the world and celebrates its 142nd year when it kicks off with Gloucestershire’s LV= County Championship match against Derbyshire on 14 July.
Pupils from the participating schools, St John’s C of E Primary and Holy Apostles C of E Primary School were given the brief of coming up with a design that celebrated the influence and impact the festival has had on the town since it was launched in 1872.
Steve Lyons said: “As a supporter of the festival, Mercedes-Benz of Cheltenham and Gloucester were keen to work closely with Gloucestershire Cricket to design a competition which would not only develop the student’s art and design skills, but help them understand the game of cricket and its importance to Cheltenham. We’ve been impressed by the standard, with some really innovative and creative entries. It’s encouraging to see such great designs coming from that particular age group. Tom’s design stood out brilliantly as it was closest to the brief given, which reflected the history of the festival, the connection with Gloucestershire Cricket and Mercedes-Benz and smart of Cheltenham and Gloucester.”
The competition winner, Tom Lumley, his family, head teacher, teacher and classmates from St John’s C of E Primary have all been invited to the NatWest T20 Blast match at Cheltenham for the unveiling of the winning car design on Sunday 20July. As part of the prize, Tom will also have his photo taken alongside Gloucestershire’s Captain, Michael Klinger and the smart car, receive a signed T20 Gloucestershire shirt, and be presented with a Junior Membership for the remainder of the 2014 season and for the whole of the 2015 season. The competition runner-up, 11 year-old Aida Ferre-Dyevre, also from St John’s C of E Primary will be presented with a signed Gloucestershire cricket shirt and bat.
Matt Allison, PE Subject Leader from St John’s C of E Primary expressed his delight at being invited to be part of the project, “The children were really excited about entering the competition, especially as we have been playing a lot of Kwik Cricket in our PE lessons and have been receiving coaching from the Gloucestershire Cricket Board. The children at St John's are sporty and creative so this competition was right up their street and they loved creating their designs!"
