The Royal Liver Poetry of Place competition sees schoolchildren write poems about their favourite Liverpool places, which are voted for by the public via the Royal Liver website.
Now in its seventh year, the competition helped Royal Liver scoop the Corporate Social Responsibility award at this year’s British Insurance Awards – the insurance industry’s most prestigious event.
Run by Royal Liver and Liverpool City Council’s Raising Achievement Team, the competition plays a major part in the education of Liverpool’s 11 to 14-year-olds, with English teachers working it into their summer lessons.
Mary Kelso Head of Liverpool City Council’s Raising Achievement Team said: “The partnership with Royal Liver has been extremely successful. They are the obvious partner for Poetry of Place because their iconic Liverpool HQ, the Royal Liver Building, with the world-famous Liver Birds has been a source of motivation for many entrants over the years.”
Since it began, Poetry of Place has received almost 8,000 entries from every secondary school in Liverpool and there is evidence that it is achieving its aim of improving literacy.
Over the past seven years, English results for Key Stage 3 – the age group of the poets – has improved year on year, with results rising from 62 per cent at Level 5+ to 72 per cent.
“Poetry of Place alone cannot claim credit for this but combined with the hard work of schools, the council’s other initiatives and the support of parents and teachers, I believe it has made a real difference,” said Steve Burnett, Royal Liver Chief Executive.
Cllr Paul Klein, Lord Mayor of Liverpool, said: “It is encouraging to see that this competition is having an impact upon literacy in the city’s schools. We are now looking at a generation of children who have been touched by the positive power of this project, my sincere thanks go to everyone at Royal Liver who has made this possible.”
This year, to mark Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture, Royal Liver has commissioned a recorded anthology of some of the best works entered since the competition began in 2001.
It has enlisted the help of talented students from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) to record the poems on a CD. The students include Ryan Prescott, a recipient of a Royal Liver Scholarship.
Steve said: “We cannot wait for the CD to be finished. We are all really looking forward to sharing these great poems with the city and celebrating winners from years gone by”
One former Poetry of Place winner, Cree Kildare from Notre Dame Catholic College, said her success gave her the confidence to write more. “It also really encouraged my interest in poetry as well as helping me to get more from my lessons,” she added.
The staff at Royal Liver are proud to be part of Poetry of Place and, said Steve, “we are constantly amazed by the quality of the poems we receive. In addition, with a good many poems about our building and famous birds, it is gratifying to know that we are still considered a part of Liverpool’s heritage and that makes everybody who works at Royal Liver proud.”
Of the British Insurance Award, Steve said: “We never started this initiative with winning awards in mind so it is especially gratifying that our peers have recognised us for the positive contribution we have made to the city in which we were founded.”
ends
Picture caption:
Previous winner, Cree Kildare.
For more information please contact Richard Edwards at Royal Liver Group on 0151 600 4268.
Notes to editor:
The Royal Liver Group consists of Royal Liver Assurance Limited an Incorporated Friendly Society, founded in Liverpool in 1850 for the mutual benefit and financial security of local families and its subsidiary companies of Park Row Group plc and Royal Liver Asset Managers in the UK and Citadel Financial Advice Limited in Ireland. The Royal Liver Group also includes Progress which is a trading name for Royal Liver Assurance Limited in the UK and Caledonian Life which is a trading name for Royal Liver Assurance Limited in Ireland.
Today, Royal Liver Assurance employs around 900 people, has approximately 3.4 million policies in force for 1.7 million members and manages more than £3.7 billion in funds.
Royal Liver Assurance Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is a member of the Association of Mutual Insurers (AMI).
Royal Liver Group 2007 Royal Liver Assurance Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.