Two young people have been selected as the winners of a design competition run by Nottinghamshire County Council. The competition invited young people to create materials raising awareness of Covid-19 vaccination and encouraging young people across Nottinghamshire to consider getting the vaccinations when offered.

Samuel Morrell, 18, of Mansfield, won the 16 – 18 category with his video and Abigail Fearn, 21, a student at Nottingham Trent University, won the 19 – 25 category with her graphic designs. The winning entries were chosen by a panel of local young people recruited by the council’s Young People’s Service.

Samuel’s entry is a powerful and innovative video in the form of a news broadcast. It reminds people that Covid-19 still has a huge impact and encourages them to get vaccinated if they can, in order to continue doing the things they enjoyed, such as going away on holiday.

Samuel is a student with additional learning needs who attends West Notts College.  When Samuel heard he had won the competition, he said: “You’re not going to believe this Mum! I am so proud of myself.”

Samuel’s video can be seen here: Samuel’s Video – YouTube

Abigail created a web banner and a poster with a superhero theme, showing the hero character advising people to help get protected against Covid-19 by getting vaccinated.

Abigail said: “Thank you for this amazing opportunity and I hope the poster helps towards encouraging young people to go out and get their vaccine!”

Coun Matt Barney, portfolio holder for Adult Social Care and Public Health, said: “I’m very pleased to congratulate the winners of our young people’s Covid-19 design competition.  Well done to Samuel and Abigail! They have both produced some incredibly creative work, showcasing not only their design skills, but also their understanding of the importance of sharing the vaccination message with their peers.

“It’s fantastic that their work will be seen and the messages they came up with shared with young people across the county. I’m also very proud that the judging panel was made up of young people, so they selected the designs that really worked for them.

“We’ve started to see rates of infection increase, and that is certainly a reminder that Covid hasn’t gone away. There are things we can all do to protect ourselves and others and, as Samuel and Abigail remind us, getting vaccinated is our best defence.”

The materials that Samuel and Abigail have designed and created will be used by and for young people and shared through Nottinghamshire schools, colleges, youth groups and other places where young people meet.