St Mary’s student runner-up in Grand Arcade’s ‘Dinky Doors’ writing competition

A talented Year 5 St Mary’s student was crowned a runner-up in a creative writing competition, organised by the Grand Arcade and the mysterious Dinky Doors artists. Aria M., was honoured at a special awards ceremony on Thursday 26 January, where she also got to meet the renowned Dinky Doors creators – who kept their identities secret with fun disguises.

More than 500 entries were received for the competition, which was an extension of the festive ‘Dinky Present Hunt’. The fun treasure hunt saw ten exclusive Dinky Door presents hidden in locations around the Grand Arcade for shoppers to find and note down the objects behind the doors. The additional writing competition element then challenged entrants to include at least four out of the ten objects within a short story. The winning prize was the chance to take home a Dinky Door present.

Aria completed both parts of the challenge – going above and beyond by selecting six objects to use as her inspiration. The items were an owl in a hat, a spell book, a camera, a yellow gift, a knight’s helmet and a bird’s nest.  

At the award ceremony, the top ten writers were recognised for their hard work. Aria was acknowledged for her wonderful creativity and given a goodie bag for her efforts. She was also interviewed by the Grand Arcade’s social media team and made an honorary member of Team Dinky’s Imagination Division as an ‘Imaginologist’. The ceremony also included a charity auction to sell off the remaining Dinky Door presents with funds raised split between Cambridge Street Aid and Dinky Doors.

Well done Aria for being so proactive, going the extra mile and sharing your imaginative story. It’s such a fantastic achievement - keep up the incredible work!