A SALE boy, Ben Stevenson-Langley, 13, a pupil at Chorlton High School, has been named a regional winner in a national writing competition.

The National Young Writers' Award, organised by Explore Learning, which has a centre in Sale, awarded Ben with a certificate after he fought off competition from many other entrants across the region.

More than 10,000 children from across the UK entered the competition, the prize being a trip to Disneyland Paris and £500 worth of books for their school.

This year’s theme was ‘The Future’ and children were tasked with writing a 500 word story set in 3017.

The stories were judged by TV presenter and adventurer Steve Backshall. The winner will be surprised in a school assembly by Steve who will announce the National Young Writer of the Year.

Every child that entered will receive a certificate to celebrate their story, along with personalised feedback from Explore Learning. The top ten runners up will also win an engraved pen from National Stationery Week sponsors, Sheaffer.

Steve Backshall says: “The quality of the stories was beyond belief! If I didn’t know this was a competition for young writers, I’d believe I was reading the scribblings of Isaac Asimov or Philip K Dick, and while there were elements from the great works of science fiction, every story was original, and had its own sense of individuality. What astounded me more than anything was that these young people had not only imagined future worlds, but imbued them with the conundrums of our modern planet.”

Explore Learning provides maths and English tuition for 5-14 year olds in 126 centres across the UK. Over 35,000 children attend Explore Learning centres every week, and creative writing workshops were held throughout the competition.

Carey Ann Dodah, Head of Curriculum Development at Explore Learning says: “This year’s National Young Writers’ Awards attracted so many entries so Ben should be very proud of his success. We were blown away with the amazingly creative, thoughtful and inventive stories. We’re thrilled to see so many children demonstrate their interest in such important matters. Trees were mentioned more than phones and political leaders featured in many stories too! Interestingly, Donald Trump was mentioned six times more than Theresa May. It’s so positive to see not only great writing ability but also that children are engaging with key environmental issues and politics.”