Rhyme and Reason

The Rhyme & Reason Fundraising Group publishes an anthology of stories, poems and articles by new and established writers to raise funds every year. The anthology is created through their annual writing competition – for more details or to enter download an entry form.

To date, the Group has raised in excess of £50,000 in aid of IRHH.

2012 Writing Competition Winners Announced – ‘SEASONS'

The Group was delighted with the quality and quantity of entries received for both the poetry and prose entries for this year's competition, themed on ‘Seasons'. Gerard Benson, City of Bradford 's Poet Laureate and founding editor of ‘Poems on the Underground' judged the Poetry entries and Fern Britton, TV Presenter and one of our celebrity supporter s, of Iain Rennie Grove House Hospice Care judged the Prose entries.

Both judges enjoyed the opportunity to read through submitted entries, with Gerard commenting that ‘this was a very difficult task. A great many of the poems had excellent qualities' and Fern adding ‘ it was a privilege to read such moving prose that used language so expressively to create compelling stories. Some told such powerful tales of loss and grief but beautifully balanced by a sense of hope and happy memories.'

The Group is delighted to announce the winners as below and thank Gerard and Fern for their support of both the writing competition and the charity. The Group would also like to thank everyone who submitted entries for the competition and congratulate the winners, as detailed below.

The winning POETRY entries are:
	1st	Lessons in Christmas Craft by Rosemary Gray
	2nd	Summer's Farewell by John Ling
	3rd	August Evening by Wendy Klein
Gerard also highly commended the following poems:
		Fire Rituals by Cathy Bryant
		Green Man by John Ling
		Armistice Morning from a Train by Sara Ridgley
		Magnolia Stellata by Jill Wallis
		September by Joe Cullen

In the Junior poets' competition , the winning entries are:
	1st	Late Summer in the Garden by William Starrs
	2nd	Autumn Term at Big School by Anna Starrs
	3rd	Winter by Rojin Kiannejad

The winning PROSE entries are:
	1st	Spice up your Life by Deborah Jeffrey
	2nd	A Winter's Secret by Elizabeth Davey
	3rd	The Season of Winter by Richard Phillips

In the Junior prose competition, the winner is:
		Seasons of an Apple Tree by Jenni Herd

‘SEASONS' – Copies of the 2013 Diary

Copies of the 2013 diary are now available to purchase through the IRHH online shop at a cost of £5 each. Copies are also available through the IRHH shops.

Committee Volunteers Required

The success of the Group continues to depend upon the hard work of a very dedicated and enthusiastic Committee. This established Group is looking to recruit additional volunteers to assist existing members in further developing ideas and plans for future fundraising activities.

If you have a general interest in creative writing, whether poetry or prose, and would like to find out more, the Group would love to hear from you. Of particular interest to the Group are people with experience in editing, sales and marketing or general Committee roles, although this is not essential. Group meetings are usually held in the Beaconsfield /Gerrards Cross area.

As well as producing an annual publication, the Group is keen to organise various fundraising events, with a social focus, throughout the year. If you would like to be a part of this successful Group and help to make a difference for IRHH, please contact either Debbie Starrs, Rhyme & Reason Fundraising Group, at Debbiestarrs@aol.com or Joanne Hunt , Community Fundraising Manager, on jhunt@irhh.org or 01442 890222.

Fundraising Group Aims

To publish yearly a small book, the contents being a mixture of poems and short stories written by previous and new writers.

To strive to continually improve the quality of the publication, both in content, appearance and style.

To run competitions that invite entries from anyone - with the winners and best entries published in Rhyme & Reason, which in itself improves and varies the content of the publication.

To sell as many publications as possible, passing the revenue less costs, to the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home .

For more information on the Rhyme & Reason Group please contact Joanne Hunt on 01442 890222 or email jhunt@irhh.org